


Noir (Posie - Legacies)

by posiewosie



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, F/F, FBI, Gay, Lesbian, Shameless Smut, Smut, gxg, posie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-10-27 22:21:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 46,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17775314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/posiewosie/pseuds/posiewosie
Summary: I don’t know where she came from, or how she ended up in that club that night. Honestly, I don’t even know what I was doing there, but I definitely know that it was both the biggest blessing, and the biggest regret of my life.





	1. Chapter 1

I don’t know where she came from, or how she ended up in that club that night. Honestly, I don’t even know what I was doing there, but I definitely know that it was both the biggest blessing, and the biggest regret of my life. 

I was enticed by warm almond skin, I was lured into her embrace by those alluring green eyes that sucked me out of my body and into hers. Or so I had hoped to be. 

A soft, all-knowing smile curled up to meet the edges of those ever intense olive green orbs, windows that opened to let me in, to clue me in on as to who she was. 

An artist, she called herself. Someone who uses the concept of social constructs against the people who created them. 

It sounded sexy to me, in my inebriated state. It sounded like she wanted to change lives, and if there was anything to know about me, I was a sucker for selflessness. 

I don’t remember how it started but what I do remember is what she felt like, tongue against my throat, fingers always either tugging on my hair, my clothes, or pumping knuckle deep inside of me until I fall apart, chest heaving, moaning so loud that it felt like a whisper. 

I remember the fuzzy little details, like the way she stroked my hair while she took me from behind against the open window of her penthouse hotel room, the harsh cold against my straining nipples from the glass that was exposed to the cool Miami air just beyond the heat of my sweating skin on the inside. 

I remember the way she fell apart against my tongue when I let it dance against hers with the taste of her own sin remnant on it. I remember the way her nails made track marks on my back, from my spine at the nape of my neck, all the way down until my back curved up into the ample flesh of my rear end. 

I remember the way I felt the next day, after the last few hours of enjoyment I could have before going back to my day job. 

I remember shifting in my seat on the plane and gasping at the sinful bliss that darted through my body in shockwaves when the scratches from her nails made themselves present. I remember having to hold my thighs together for the entire two hour flight, tugging on my lip between my thumb and forefinger, just to remind myself of the kind of feeling I deserved to have, the kind of pain that made me scream in the best possible way, rather than the kind that I felt that compelled me to get into the field I was in. 

I remember missing her, wishing I had gotten her number, just so that I could call her and listen to her tell me about all of the horrible, awful, brilliant things she would like to do to me. 

I remember picturing her while I fell apart at the tips of my own fingers, mentally replacing them with her tongue, or her fingers, or whatever other thing she so pleased to please me with. 

I remember being on cloud nine despite the descent into madness I was ready to face when I found out just who she was. 

“Have fun on your vacation?” Asked Agent Greasley, my coworker and close friend. 

“Oh yeah,” I laughed as I set my bag down on my desk, “I’m happy you made me take it.” I admitted as I wiped the dust from the leather of my chair before taking a seat and logging into my computer to retrieve the new assignment. 

“Well, you needed it after everything that happened last year.” He sighed, laying a hand on my shoulder, causing me to hiss when I felt the after effects of Penelope’s handiwork sting under the weight of my friend’s hand. He stepped back when he realized my body falter, raising his hands up in surrender, eyes filled with a sudden wave of concern. “Are you okay?” He asked, and I chuckled before shrugging. 

“Yeah, I fine, don’t worry about it.” I assured, but he crossed his arms over his chest expectantly. 

“Did he pay you a visit again, Jo?” He asked, and I rolled my eyes. 

“No, MG.” I assured, “I haven’t spoken to Raf in two years. That book is closed, and after what happened, I don’t think he’ll be coming around anytime soon.” I promised. 

“Then what happened?” 

“You don’t want to know.” I promised, but he persisted, sitting on the corner of my desk and pestering me. Working with Milton Greasley for nearly four years teaches you that Milton Greasley will get information out of you, no matter what. It’s what made him such a good agent all these years. 

For me, however, he uses a different interrogation tactic. 

“I’m not leaving until you tell me why you’re hurt.” He assured stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest, and I shrugged, fine with that. I continued in silence before moving my bag to the ground and beginning my reports so I could finally begin my new case. After about two minutes, I heard a loud, heavy, obnoxious sigh come from the man in front of me. “Fine, I’ll guess.” I broke the silence, making me groan, dropping me head into my hands. “Did you get into a bar fight?” 

“No Milton." I deadpanned as I continued typing up my continuance report. 

 

“Did you get hit by a car?” 

“No Milton."

“Did you get attacked by a large wild animal?” Something like that. 

“No Milton." 

“Oh, I know!” He exclaimed as I finished up my report and decided to go get my gun, badge and vest from my locker. “You got jumped by a bunch of gang members!” 

“Literally, MG, you make me want to gauge my own eyes out.” I complained as I opened my locker and pulled the items from my tidy little space, lifting my sweater from over my head so I could put my vest on over my tank top. 

“Oh my God!” MG gasped as he lifted my shirt from behind to look at my back, scratch marks evident over every last inch. “Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.” He demanded, and I rolled my eyes before snatching my shirt and pulling it over my body to put the vest on, then my holster, then my badge. 

“I had sex with a stranger.” I stated the obvious, a heavy, exasperated sigh on my lips as I turned to face my annoying friend, whose eyes were wide with shock. 

“I thought you were a virgin!” He whispered loudly, making me roll my eyes with a slight smile on my lips. 

“No you didn’t!” I said back in the same tone, making him relent with a shrug. 

“You’re right, I didn’t.” He laughed, “But wow, I didn’t think dudes got that intense.” He admitted. 

“They don’t, I had sex with a woman.” I divulged, and he dropped his hands to his hips. 

“That makes a lot more sense.” He laughed with a nod, biting his lip in thought for a moment. “I didn’t see you as the kind to be…” 

“Into girls?” I asked, ready to have an argument. 

“Into being on top.” He blushed. 

“Well,” I pondered my answer for a moment, “I like to make people feel good, just as much as I like feeling good.” I admitted as I closed my locker door and walked out, allowing my companion to follow me out to the bullpen, which was slowly filling up with agents and detectives as it came alive into a lively environment. I usually got to work at around seven thirty, even though most people don’t start desk duty until nine, but I loved my job, enforcing the law and keeping survivors safe, the way our captain, Captain Mikaelson did for me when I was in the toxic relationship with Rafael four years ago. 

“What about you?” I asked as I moved to get an orange juice out of the vending machine in the break room, “How was your two weeks without me?” I hummed and he shrugged, leaning back against the fridge to talk. 

“Oh, y’know, still looking for a girlfriend, still being superman. Same old, same old.” He assured, following me back to my desk so that we could look at the file together. 

“I see you’re about to check out your newest, high priority case.” Interrupted captain Mikaelson, making me turn to meet piercing green eyes. 

“Yes ma’am.” I smiled, and she rolled her eyes with a soft smile. 

“I know you think you’re walking on thin ice, leaving right after being promoted, but I understand.” She promised, setting her hand on my back, forcing me to keep in any sounds of discomfort at the pain she was bringing up. 

“Thanks, boss. I really appreciate it.” I grunted, and she rose a brow. 

“You okay?” She inquired, rubbing my back, making it worse, making my body stiffen. 

“Y-yeah,” I groaned, “I’m just a little sore from vacation.” I chuckled, and she hummed with a nod. 

“I see.” She narrowed her eyes at me before sighing. “Well, I’ll let you get to work.” She said lastly before dropping her hand in the middle of my back one last time, making me squeak out loud as she walked away. “Welcome back, Special Agent Saltzman.” She said over her shoulder at me before facing away and making her way across the room. I looked to MG to say something before she spoke up again. “Saltzman!” She shouted, making me look up again. “Perhaps stretch before you go so hard next time.” She suggested before leaving the room, allowing every other agent, officer and sergeant to look at me. 

I blushed before ducking behind my computer and finally opening the file for the new case. 

“Robber with the alias, Emerald, I wonder why.” MG read, squinting at the screen over my shoulder. “Charges longer than the Mississippi river,” he gaped before reading them out, “Arson, robbery, drugs and arms dealing, breaking and entering, grand larceny… espionage?” We looked at each other with looks of disbelief in our eyes as I turned back to keep reading. 

“She’s never done time, and nobody has ever been able to get a good look at her. No prints, no hair, no witnesses, ever, and no name?” I asked, slightly outraged by the fact that I was given such a garbage case. “What the hell?” I scoffed. 

“Nah, Captain always does this,” he assured, “I cut my teeth on a sex trafficking case. She just wants to make sure you can hack the really high pressure stuff.” He assured, dropping a hand on my knee in assurance, only for me to grunt, and he snatched it away as quickly as he could. “Geeze,” he exclaimed, “y’all got hella freaky!” I rolled my eyes at my friend’s dramatics before scrolling through the three page report, my eyes catching the single they had on file of this woman, and my jaw dropped when I saw the familiar side profile through a pixelated surveillance photo. 

“MG, I think I know why she calls herself Emerald.”


	2. Un

“Hey, Jo, any closer to catching the Booty Bandit yet?” MG asked from behind me, pulling me out of my Penelope induced stupor, allowing me to look over my shoulder to my annoying friend with a look of confusion. “You know, because she stole the booty and bounced?” He tried, but my emotionless stare gave away just what I thought about the joke. “Anyway,” he chuckled nervously before sitting on the corner of my desk, as he always did. “Is there anything I can do to make it better?” He inquired as he chipped the paint off of his fingernails distractedly. 

“I’ve checked every Penelope in every FBI and CIA and Military database there is, and I can’t find anything on here.” I groaned, dropping my head down onto the wood of the desk I had been chained to for the last six weeks. “I don’t know what to do.” I complained, fighting back tears as I ran my fingers through my hair stressedly. 

“Well,” MG hummed as he leaned forward to turn my computer monitor off, “It’s five o clock on a Friday night. Let’s go for drinks?” He suggested, and I sighed. 

“Let me go get changed.” 

… 

“I mean,” I exhaled after my third shot of tequila, “why do I have to get all dressed up in all that stuff if I don’t even leave my desk?” 

“In case of an active shooter, Jojo.” He said simply over the brim of his second beer, and I sighed, just as someone came and sat beside me. I blinked through the slight haze of my anebrium and noticed a soft, kind smile turned up at the edges of two beautiful blue eyes. 

“Rough day?” She hummed as a beer bottle was placed onto the counter by the bartender, allowing her to lift the neck to her lips immediately. 

“Rough six weeks.” I rolled my eyes, and she chuckled. 

“Tell me about it.” She sighed with the roll of her eyes. 

“What happened to you?” I inquired of the stunning young woman. 

“My boyfriend left me.” She complained. 

“I’m sorry, what a jerk!” I scoffed. 

“Oh well, he was terrible in bed anyways.” She said before tipping the bottle into her mouth again. 

“Why were you with him then?” 

“Sometimes being with someone is better than being alone, even if that someone isn’t good for you.” She admitted with the nod of her head, a sad frown on her lips. 

“I totally get that.” I sighed, and she rose a brow. 

“Your man is no good in bed?” She asked, and I giggled. 

“Trust me,” I scoffed, “if that happens, I’ll just go for a woman,” She winked before clearing her throat and changing the subject. “I mean, I was in an abusive relationship a few years back, and I thought that it was just better to be with him because I didn’t have anyone else.” I admitted, and she rose a brow. 

“No parents or siblings or friends?” She hummed, and I sighed. 

“I moved here from Georgia and all my friends were his friends. I didn’t start making friends until recently.” I admitted, my fingers toying with the cool glass of the shot glass on the sticky wooden counter in front of me, my booted toe tapping against the metal bar attached to the counter. 

“So…” This blue eyed beauty turned to face me better, abandoning her beer bottle to meet my eyes. “You’re into girls?” She hummed, and I shrugged. 

“Oh yeah.” I assured, and she rose a brow. 

“And…” She moved dangerously close to me, her finger toying with the watch on my wrist, making the hairs in my arm stand to attention. “Are you better in bed than my ex boyfriend?” She breathed, making me raise a brow at how fast the pace changed, but I was already sold. 

“Would you like to find out?” I hummed, and before I knew it, she was dragging me into the bathroom, shoving me into an empty stall before her lips were on mine. Her tongue was eager and sloppy, and I felt my chest heave at the feeling of her fingers tugging at the buttons on my shirt, undoing the top two, revealing my bra clad chest, just enough for her to latch her lips on the swell, fingers tangling in my hair and tugging the locks with a hunger I hadn’t felt since… 

In an attempt to shake my memory, I grunted and shoved her against the door of the stall, ignoring its shaking and shuddering with a goal to do that to this woman. I lifted her skirt and pushed her panties aside, leaning down to attach my teeth to her neck, sinking my teeth into the flesh harshly as I slid my fingers through her already slick, hot folds. I made her gasp at my thumb rolling over her clit, her hands in my hair creating a sharp pain in my head that spurred my arousal, my thighs pooling as I took a deep breath and pulled her up until her legs wrapped around my waist. I felt her body buzz against mine and hummed in excitement around the frantic motions of my tongue, lips and teeth marking her skin rigorously. Finally, I dipped my fingertip from her folds, down into her entrance, and she stiffened against me, her walls immediately tightening around my digit until I slowly slid in and out, building up a pace that made her hips roll and the plastic walls of the bathroom shake. 

She moaned when I made one particularly harsh thrust, her body hunching over me, making me carry her entire body as she submitted to my touch, allowing me to make her fall apart, quite literally, at my fingertips. 

“M-more,” she moaned in my ear, and I added a second one, not slowing down or allowing her time to accomodate my finger. 

Her breath in my ear and the pain in my back, arm, legs and hips reminded me of the intensity of Penelope against me. 

How she pulled out that toy and thrust into me so hard that I could hear and feel her thighs slapping against my backside, how I felt dirty, letting her see me like this when just a few hours prior, I was concentrated on staying reserved. 

How she took my hips and yanked me back against her, sheathing that toy deep inside of me in a way that made me scream into the pillow of her hotel bed. 

I felt my thrusts grow harsher, deeper as I recalled Penelope against me, the way she bit my neck and clawed at my body when it was her turn against the mattress. I clenched my jaw around the grip I had on the stranger’s flesh of her shoulder, and I heard her let out a cry, followed by whimpers and begs, her hands desperately grasping at the clothes on my shoulders. 

“Don’t stop,” she moaned harshly as the sound of the wall I had her pinned against quaked almost as intensely as her thighs did around my waist. Finally, her body tensed, and she fell apart around my hand, her arousal dripping down my still pumping wrist.

She collapsed against me, and I set her on her shaky legs as I made a show of licking her come from my wrist and hands, lifting her skirt to clean her up. She lifted one of her trembling legs over my shoulder and gasped, her leg almost giving out when I moaned against her messy sex, lapping up what was there and placing her panties back where they belong. I stood up, and she took my colar in both hands, pulling me against her lips so she could taste herself. She gasped against my lips before pulling away breathlessly. 

“Wow,” she gasped, chest heaving, a dazed look in her eye as she looked up at me, hands still clinging to the lapels of my white shirt. “You’ve proven yourself.” She chuckled, “That’s the best orgasm I’ve had in years.” She commended, and I grinned before pulling back t button up her top. “Wait, let me make it up to you.” She insisted, and I chuckled before shaking my head as she stepped aside to let me out of the sex filled stall, into the dark vibe of the bar once again.

“Don’t worry about it.” I assured, sighing in disappointment to see that MG had left, likely to bed alone because he doesn’t like one night stands and this isn’t the first time I’ve left him alone for something like this. 

“Please,” she sighed, stepping in front of me and stopping me from moving out the door to the bar, “Let me do something for you. I can’t just let you leave unsatisfied.” She begged, and I sighed. 

… 

“You weren’t kidding when you said you lived close,” I sighed as I walked through the dimly lit apartment, noting the elegantly modern decor, leather couches with round black stools that spin against the black and grey marble counter, stainless steel everything. 

“Yeah, my roommate works at the tattoo studio across the street, so this apartment was perfect for her.” She chuckled, dropping her keys into the little wooden bowl on the rack beside her door, removing her shoes and walking to the kitchen to get a bottle of wine out of the refrigerator. I did the same with my shoes, setting my bag on the floor before following her.

“Cold wine…” I hummed as she poured the bottles into two glasses that she pulled from a rack that hung over the sink. 

“It’s not a sin to have standards.” She scoffed as she scooted one glass close to me, allowing me to take a drink, allowing the chemicals to blend with my sex-starved brain. I felt my muscles loosen as the alcohol coursed through my veins as she studied my face, a soft look in her eyes, her lips rested in a thin smile. “I never got your name.” She reminded me, and I clicked my tongue as I hoisted myself up onto the cool marble countertop. 

“Maybe that’s for the best.” I shrugged, and she rose a brow at me. 

“Don’t worry,” she chuckled, “I’m not gonna stalk you or…” she chuckled, “...I don’t know, run a background check on you or something.” She giggled. 

“Maybe that’s ideal,” I mumbled to myself, remembering what it was like the last time I had sex with a stranger. 

“What?” 

“Nothing,” I cleared my throat before taking a drink of my wine, allowing it to ease my nerves again. 

“You’re strange.” She insisted, and I shrugged. 

“I don’t do names with one night stands.” I assured, and she leaned against the counter, looking up at me with a grin on her soft lips. 

“Maybe I see this going on further than just one night.” She suggested, making me chuckle. 

“Most people can’t handle me.” I watched something flash across her diamond eyes before she stepped closer to me, compelling me to open my legs to invite her between them. She leaned up and took my lips in hers, hands holding the sides of my head to delve deeper. 

“I can handle you just fine,” she rasped, and I quirked an eyebrow. 

“I like it rough.” I challenged, and she took it, stepping back and taking my hand to guide me down, and back through the hall, to her room at the end of it. I didn’t have time to notice anything in the room other than the fact that she had some poster behind her open door. I didn’t have the mental capacity to look around further, my mind racing too much from the moment she shoved me back onto her queen sized bed, climbing on top of me as she yanked her shirt over her head and tossed it somewhere amongst the room. My eyes raked along her warm stomach, and I bit my lip in anticipation. 

She had one of the most beautiful bodies I’d ever seen, even compared to Penelope. Penelope had rippled muscles and protruding hip bones beneath the scars of her life, but there was something about this soft stomach, one that felt natural, almost homely.

Something more than just fun. 

Speaking of fun, it was time for me to pay attention. I watched as my companion reached behind herself, unhooking the purple bra from her chest and tossing it aside with her top. I admired my handy work, the darkening flesh from the ghost of my lips and teeth on her skin an arousing contrast to her dusty pink nipples, and her pale skin. 

I ran my palms up her ribs, trickling my fingers over the underside swell of her breasts watching her nipples stand to attention in almost no time. Her lip eased between her teeth as she made quick work of unbuttoning my white shirt, then of unhooking the front clasp of my bra, allowing me to slip out of the fabric. She quickly lifted herself to remove her skirt and panties, leaving her completely nude atop me, working to yank my pants from my thighs. Her face was over my thighs, her glass orbs staring up at me with intent, nails digging into the flesh of my inner thighs roughly for a moment, making me grow impatient. 

I sat up and wrapped my arms around her torso before flipping her down onto the bed in one swift, startling motion that made her gasp in surprise. I straddled her naked body and pinned her hands above her head with my own, using my leverage to attack her neck with my teeth, sucking on the area between my teeth, lashing at the damp skin with my tongue. She moaned, her legs squirming beneath me, right knee bending up to meet my center. 

I ground my hips into her knee and panted against her skin before moving up bite on the lobe of her ear. 

“I said,” I growled breathily, “I like it rough,” I let go of her hands roughly and slid down her body to let her sit up, “Now, show me rough.” I demanded, and she nodded breathlessly before pushing me back where my head was near the foot of the bed, sliding my panties off before latching her lips to my shoulder, the fingers on her right hand clawing my breast as she sucked on the flesh of my shoulder, trailing downward, until her lips were wrapped around my right breast, teeth toying with my nipple, pulling it into erection. Her left hand was in my hair, pulling harshly, making me moan at the feeling. 

She moved to the valley of my breasts with her mouth, tonging the skin from left to right, one end to the other, then down my abdomen. She sank her teeth into the skin where my abdomen began, sucking in as the fingers on her right hand sank her nails into my hip. I felt my sex pool, and I moaned at the work she was doing on me, allowing her make a trail of what would be dark, harsh hickies down until she finished below my belly button. She eyed me with deep blue eyes now, her hands scratching a trail of marks down the front of my body until she came into contact with my thighs. She ran her face up my thigh, dragging her lips along the length, stopping on the inside, just before she hit the apex. 

She smirked one time before flicking her tongue between the warm folds of my snatch, making me coo, my head lulling back and to the side as I closed my eyes and let her do the work. 

I allowed myself to relax, knowing it would never be what it was with Penelope. 

I’ll never be so in tune with someone like I was with her. 

It was a shame she was an awful person. 

“Nngh,” I moaned, bucking my hips at the feeling of two fingers suddenly sheathing themselves inside of her, her tongue toying with my clit. I opened my eyes and looked down to the woman between my legs, watching the hoods over her eyes turn to slits as she pulled away to revel in my taste. She moaned lowly, making my walls clench around her pumping digits and my hands close around fistfuls of long, brown locks. 

I felt myself build up into an orgasm, my stomach clenching, the sweet, sweet trickle of pleasure trilling through my pelvis, sweat gathering at my brow and I closed my eyes to ready myself for stars when she stopped, and my eyes snapped open in exasperation. 

I popped my head up to meet her eyes, noting the mischief in them as she licked her lips softly, blue orbs rolling to the back of her head as she expended a moan from her throat. I glared at her, and she stalked up my body, hips moving up and down like jungle cat before reaching my eyes and leaning down to lick the shell of my ear.

“Ride my face.” She purred, and it was all I needed before I smirked and snatched her hips to roll her over. I slid up her hips, dragging my clit across her legs, then her stomach and her chest at least before reaching her face. 

She tugged my over her lips with her hands on my backside, tugging on each globe roughly before she let out a single lash with her tongue, making me shudder. I gripped her hair from where I was and began to thrust my hips against her face, humming, eyes closed as she teased my entrance with her strong, sharp muscle, trading off between my entrance and my clit, twirling it around before tugging on it with a sharpness that made me let out a heavy, gutteral moan. 

“O-oh,” I gasped, and I felt her cheeks quirk up in amusement between my thighs before landing a harsh slap to the flesh of my backside, surging me forward with a moan, sweat rolling down my back and abdomen, as well as her forehead. 

I apreciated the effort on her part, honestly. Willing to put in the work to make me feel good, insisting that she make me feel good. 

I felt myself building up again, my thighs shaking, burning even, my abdomen tight again, my clit throbbing as my walls clamped around nothing. 

I was close, I could feel it. 

Then, I opened my eyes to see a pair of all-too familiar green eyes staring at me, arms crossed over her chest, a grin on her face, despite the unsettled look in her eyes.

Just the sight of her sent me tumbling over the age. I let out a loud, strangled moan as I came, my back and thighs and stomach all convulsing as I collapsed over the head of the blue eyed woman in a mess of sweat and sex. She kept licking me tentatively, lapping up my juices and riding my orgasm down, he hangs rubbing my backside softly, so to sooth me back into something less primal. I exhaled heavily before blinking and looking up, relieved to see I was just seeing things.

I relaxed and laid against the shorter girl’s chest, twirling my finger around her nipple, making it go hard again beneath my finger tips. 

“My name is Hope, by the way.” She exhaled heavily, and I didn't see a problem with telling her now. 

Like I said, her body felt like more than just fun.

“I'm Josie.” I exhaled as she ran her fingers through my hair softly. 

“Really now?” I heard, and sat up suddenly, looking in the corner of the room that was initially out of my sight to see the exact person I didn't expect to see and immediately covered my chest with my hands. “I thought you didn't give away your name to one night stands.” She rose a brow, and I felt flustered, but I was too angry to blush. “I’m Penelope, by the way. Hope's roommate.” She smirked, stepping forward to shake my hand, but I just stared at it.

“You're not in the least bit worried about where my hands just were?” I asked, swallowing my rage, and she shrugged, not moving her hand away from me. 

“Mine have been there too,” she winked, and I looked to Hope, who was smiling up at us, arms behind her head as she stared. I turned away from her, so not to expose my chest to her and shook her hand.

She looked me deep in the eyes and kissed my knuckles before pulling away and licking her lips seductively. 

I ignored the bugging betwern my thighs and cleared my throat. 

“I-I have to go.” I studdered, stumbling to my feet nervously before gathering my clothes clumsily, rushing out of Hope's bedroom door to go get dressed in the bathroom. 

I didn't know how, or why, but now, Penelope was in the next room, and my mind was swimming with questions, concerns, so many thoughts tainting my head that I couldn't even make a coherent query.   
Once completely dressed, I rushed out the bathroom door and met blue eyes across from me, standing in the kitchen and waiting for me, a soft smile on her face as she peered at me over the brim of her wine glass. 

Something in my chest told tugged me toward her, and she kissed my lips softly, fingers toying with the hairs on the nape of my neck, the ones of her other hand tugging on the string of her robe, making the black silk fall open to reveal her naked body again. 

“Stay,” she whispered, and I hummed against her. 

“I can't, I have work early tomorrow morning.” 

“Then get my number.” She begged, and I hummed with a nod. 

“Okay.” 

I grabbed my phone from my bag on the floor by the door and handed it to her, watching as she put the digits in my phone. I kissed her one last time as she handed me my phone before moving to the door, hopefully as far from Penelope as possible, until she stopped me. 

“I could drive you.” She suggested, and I chuckled nervously, trying not to make it obvious what I knew about her. 

“No, no, thanks, but I'm just gonna take an Uber.” I assured, and Penelope hummed. 

“At least let me stand outside with you. It's dangerous on this side of New York at this hour.” She insisted.

“Yeah, P, will you?” Hope asked with a grin and I sighed as Penelope opened the front door to let me out. We walked doen together, me looking down with immense discomfort. 

I was too busy thinking of action to take to think about actually calling the Uber. 

I knew I couldn't just arrest her, not with alcohol in my system, not without my badge or gun or even a set of cuffs. Not while I was off duty, and not while I didn't have any real evidence of the fact that she was Emerald. 

That she was a killer. 

“So, Josie, huh?” She asked, and my eyed snapped up to her as my mind snapped out of thought. “I guess I wasn't good enough to get a name out of you, huh?” She chuckled, and I rolled my eyes. 

“You were a one night thing.” I assured, and she rose a brow. 

“This wasn't just a one night thing?” She asked as we waited in the lobby, so to avoid the cold New York City air while we waited for the Uber I wasn't awair I forgot to call.

“She…” I sighed, “it felt different with her.” I explained, and she chuckled before leaning against the wall nearby. 

“Like what? Vanilla?” She teased, and I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest with anger. “You should probably call that Uber.” She rose a brown, and I groaned in anger at her before finally pulling out my phone to do so. 

Once finished, I looked up at her amused eyes, feeling hatred swell in my chest. 

“Josie.” She said to break the silence, a chuckle that cut deep berween my thighs. “It’s so nice to put a name to the face.” She chuckled, looking me up and down, “and the rest of you.” 

“Why didn't you tell Hope about what happened in Miami?” I asked, ignoring her flirting with my question. 

“I didn't want her to feel insecure. I have big shoes to fill.” She assured, crossing her arms over her chest to match my stance. 

“So modest,” I said sarcastically, and she stalked toward me, making me swallow. 

“You would be too if you did the things I do.” She assured before closing the gap between us, whispering in my ear. “I've brought the strongest of women to their knees.” She husked, and I had to ignore the hairs standing up on my neck and arms by clenching my teeth. 

“I can't believe you.” I rolled my eyes, and she shrugged nonchalantly.

“You've felt it first hand.” She assured, toying with the button on my shirt above my breasts, looking at me over her hand teasingly. “Sad,” she poured in faux innocence, “you're really good at it too.” sh exhaled as though overwhelmed, “the things you can do with your tongue,” She bit her lip before looking into my eyes, “I don't like when other people get to feel that.” 

I scoffed in an attempt to shrug her off. 

“You'll never feel it again.” I promised. 

“We'll see about that.” She smirked before green eyes looked to the side. “Ride's here.” She warned before stepping aside and letting me go. “Sweet dreams, Jojo.” She said at me before I got into the blue car feeling conflicted.


	3. Duex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

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I’d gone the weekend thinking about how I could gather evidence to prove that Penelope is Emerald and came up with a plan that could very well test my morals. 

I decided that dating Hope would help me in ways other than my sex drive, so I’d spend more time with her, hoping she’d drop random facts about Penelope that could help me. For example: a last name. 

Not only could talking to Hope help, but I could also sneak into her room while Hope was sleeping and Penelope was at work or something. I also decided to start carrying my gun, badge, and a pair of handcuffs on me at all times, as strongly suggested by many law enforcement precincts. Some even require it for some police officers. 

Saturday night, I was pulled out of my late night case study session by the ding of my phone, and was less than excited to figure out what I did. 

Penelope must’ve slipped her number into my phone and text herself when I was with Hope because now, I had a text from a contact saved in my phone with her name. 

“Meet me under the stars.” 

The last thing I wanted to do on a Saturday night was spend time with my murderous ex one night stand alone at night. 

I could always just bring my gun and put it in my bag just in case, but I need this information, whether it kills me or not. 

Hopefully not. 

“I’ll be there in ten.” I wrote back before stuffing my phone into the pocket of my jeans before closing my laptop, organizing my kitchen table of all my files and running to my room to get a jacket and a pair of shoes. 

It wasn’t long before I was standing on the top of the highest building in New York City, looking out at the pale moonlight. 

It was similar to where we met in Miami.

“I wasn’t sure you’d show up.” Called Penelope across the roof from me, the pale light of the moon shining down on her sharp, captivating features as she stalked toward me with a purpose I was oblivious to. 

“Neither was I.” I cleared my throat as I stood at the fire escape of her and Hope’s apartment building. 

“I’m not sure why,” she shrugged, her head moving from side to side as she sauntered closer, the proximity slowly closing in on me, making me back away until I was stuck against the door. “I could’ve sworn we left each other on a good note.” She shrugged, “Unless I’m mistaken…” 

“You’re not.” I swallowed a lump in my throat, and she rose a brow. 

“Then?” She asked with a shrug, awaiting my answer. “What happened?” 

“I-I guess I was just caught off guard.” I admitted, making her chuckle. 

“So that’s why you were cold to me, even after the whole Hope situation was over?” She inquired, stepping so close that the cold New York air was cut off by her hot breath against my cheek. 

“Maybe I just don’t like how cocky you can be.” I lied, turning my nose up at her, making her scoff. 

“You should really consider taking a page from my book, Jojo.” She reached up to twirl a strand of my hair from beside my neck, sending chills up the length of my spine as she tickled the skin with the tip of her finger. “You’re really good at what you do.” She mumbled against the shell of my ear, taking the cartilage of it between her teeth to tug until my body was invaded with shivers. “The best of my life.” She admitted, but I would never give her the satisfaction of knowing she was the same for me. 

“I wish I could say the same.” I challenged, and she pulled away, showing a straight face to me before cracking a grin. 

“That’s the second lie you’ve told me since you’ve been up here in the last two minutes.” She taunted, and I crossed my arms over my chest to guard myself. “Sweet, Sweet Josie.” She clicked her tongue as she shook her head, stepping to my side, causing me to step to the side. She began to circle me, looking me up and down shamelessly before facing me from my right side. “I’ve never lied to you, so why are you doing this to me?” She pouted playfully, and I swallowed a lump in my throat. 

“You’re not good for me.” I shook my head nervously, and she laughed aloud. 

“You’re not good for you either.” She countered. “You can’t even talk to me without lying, how can I expect you not to self-destruct?” 

“Why does it matter to you what I do with my life?” I deflected, and she sighed in disdain for such a lie. 

“When people lie to me, I have reasons not to trust them…” She recalled, tucking her hands under my jacket and toying with the buttons on my dark blue top. “And I don't want that for us, Jojo.” She pouted, and I swallowed the lump in my throat before moving my arms from my chest, down to my stomach to knock her hands from me.

“I have a lot of secrets.” I shrugged, and she scoffed, yet again.

“Right.” She rolled her eyes. “Like your name?” She rose a brow. 

“Like a lot of things.” 

“I bet I know more about you than you know.” She promised.

“I doubt that.” I assured, and Penelope's green eyes flashed with an excitement that scared me. 

“What kind of prize do I get if I do?” She hummed. 

I didn't think she'd guess much about me at all. 

“You can do whatever you want to me.” I teased, and she rose a brow.

“I think you're not used to being the center of attention.” She said automatically, stripping me of my jacket and tossing it to the ground somewhere. “I think you probably have a sibling who takes up all that attention.” She unbuttoned the top button of my top, looking up at me with amusement furious in her green eyes. “I think you're not the type to do one night stands, but something happened that stops you from committing to something that would let you fulfill your sexual desires without having to do this.” She hummed, looking up from my shirt buttons to confirm whether she was correct or not. Her eyes softened, and she caressed my cheek tenderly, “Somebody hurt you,” I resisted the urge to lean into her embrace. “Who would ever make those big brown eyes cry?” She tutted as she moved my hair behind my ear. “I couldn't imagine doing something like that.” 

Something in her eyes changed before she moved her hand from my face and tugged on her bottom lip in thought. “You use sex as a tool in filling a void. You even once were insecure about it once upon a time.” She continued her circling of me with a chuckle. “I couldn't imagine you unskilled, but I could imagine you as someone who once really cherished something so intimate.” 

“Who says I don't still?” I argued, and she shook her head.

“Not me. But you definitely don't need to love someone before taking that step.” She predicted. 

“You're right.” I exhaled, and she smirked. 

“Of course I am.” 

“Why didn't you tell me you were from New York?” I asked abruptly, and she shrugged. 

“I just assumed we'd never have to see each other again, so it wouldn't matter.” she admitted. 

“What were you doing in Miami in the first place?” 

“I told you,” Penelope clicked her tongue, “I was there for business.” 

“Hope said you work at a tattoo studio nearby.” I challenged, and she rose a brow. She did say she was an artist, after all.

“What's with the interrogation?” She chuckled playfully, and I was forced to swallow a lump of nerves in my throat. 

“I'm just…” I inhaled deeply, pinching the bridge of my nose to think of what to say, “..trying to read you.” I lied, and she shrugged. 

“I’m more of a picture book.” She winked.

“I find that hard to believe.” 

“The pictures are hieroglyphics.” 

“That sounds more like it.” 

“Well, ask me anything. I'm an open book.” She assured, and I rose a brow. 

“I find that hard to believe too.” 

“I'm an open book for you.” 

I hesitated. 

“Why?” 

“Why not?” She shrugged. 

“You didn't even know my name until yesterday.” I reminded, making her shrug. 

“Mystery is sexy.” She winked, and I shook my head. 

“No, this isn't about that. This is much deeper than sex.” I predicted, and she smirked.

“Maybe you're better at reading me than you give credit for.” She commended, stepping closer to look deeply into my eyes. “What else do you read?”

“You're dangerous.” I exhaled, and she rose a brow. 

“Why do you say that?” 

“I-I haven't been able to get you out of my head.” I admitted, immediately regretting such an admission. 

“What about that says danger?” 

“It doesn't,” I chuckled with the shake of my head, “that's what makes you dangerous.” 

“Well,” she unbuttoned the next button, “that must mean that you're just as dangerous as I am. Because you've been in my head since you left that morning.” 

“Is that right?” I stuck my chin up in satisfaction, and she puffed her chest out in defense. 

“Yeah, I mean, sex isn’t the same anymore. The closest I get to that night is when I’m all alone,” she hummed, tapping on my chest with her finger tips tentatively. “Touching myself at the memory of you falling apart beneath me, giving me no clue that you’d destroy me within the next five minutes.” She closed her eyes blissfully and inhaled, biting her lip to keep herself composed. 

“I can definitely say I was painfully reminded of how good I was to you for the next week or so,” I tried to defuse the tension, but she rose a brow, silently asking me to elaborate on my words. “I-I couldn’t even lay on my back without the scratches on my back burning.” 

“It seems as though I’ve done my job.” She said proudly, making me roll my eyes, overcome by my initial anger at her cocky demeanor. 

“Why’d you call me up here anyway?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest to guard myself of her antics. 

“Can’t I just text a stranger and meet her on the roof of my apartment at eleven at night on a forty degree New York City night for a nice chat?” She winked, and I rolled my eyes. 

“You obviously know that answer. Now, give me a real answer, now.” I demanded, and she shrugged. 

“I just can’t get you out of my head, and now that I know where you’re at, I know I can do something about that.” She admitted, making me scoff. 

“Seeing me more isn’t how you get me off your mind. Not seeing me at all is how you get me off your mind. Ignore me, every thought of me, every memory, act like they don’t exist, act like we never met.” I shrugged, as though it would ever me such a simple solution to this mess I had gotten myself into with something so simple as a fucking one night stand. 

“Has that been working for you so far, Jojo?” She teased, despite the serious undertone in her voice. 

“Not at all.” I exhaled, and she hummed. 

“Exactly,” she hummed, “which is why I need to get you outta my system, just by having another go. One good, hard, orgasm, and e can go on with our lives. What do you say?” 

Of course I said yes. 

I was weak, what was I going to do, say no? 

Before I knew it, we were rushing down the staircase to Penelope’s apartment, rushing to peel each other’s clothes off, one by one, leaving a trail of cotton and polyester and leather from the front door, down the hall to Penelope’s bedroom. I dropped my bag by Penelope’s bed and was stuck fumbling over my underwear when Penelope turned on her light to reveal her naked body, coated in old scars, littered all over her back, different sizes and shapes, from her tail bone, between her shoulder blades, everywhere. 

“Everyone has scars, Josie.” She said through the silence as though she could feel my eyes on her, making me avert my gaze as she turned around to look at me. “It’s okay,” she chuckled, “I’m not shy about them.” 

“W-what happened?” I asked, suddenly feeling bad for her. I didn’t know why, I was sure she got them while fighting with people and being a criminal. I guess I just wanted to hear what she had to say. 

“A few things here and there.” She shrugged. “I grew up in the foster system, so a lot of them are cigarette burns, things being thrown at me by aggressive foster parents and siblings…” She trailed off before pointing to a scar on her chest, “I got jumped six years ago and the attacker had a knife.” 

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” I said sadly, and she shrugged. 

“Like I said, everyone has scars. Some are just more visible than others.” She looked me in the eyes, and I felt my spine shudder. 

She took my hands and pulled me close by them until her breath was on my lips, begging me closer.

“Kiss me.” I demanded, and she grinned, eyes filled with sincerity. 

“I thought you'd never ask.” 

She took my face and pulled me in for a searing kiss, taking my breath away as she slammed her door closed before shoving me against it. 

I gasped into her mouth as she shoved her knee between my thighs, making me grind down onto her leg with a groan against her lips. 

I brought my hands up to her back, pulling on her love handles, my nails digging into her scarred flesh with an eagerness that radiated from my body. 

I felt her lips quirk up against my mouth as she used her leverage on my hips to turn me and toss me onto her full size bed. She climbed on top of me and grabbed my neck with both hands, pulling me up as she hunched over me and flicked my tongue with hers, her breath loud and frantic as she rolled her hips against mine, her arousal dripping down her inner thigh as her hands closed around my throat, making my body buzz as I grew lightheaded under the constraint of her grip on my air supply. 

She moved her hands from my throat to let me breathe before pulling away and taking in a gaze at my body, naked and flush below her. 

“I don't like seeing these,” she admitted, trailing her thumb along one of the several hickies on my abdomen from my adventures with Hope in the next room just the night before, “marks made by someone who isn't me, someone who doesn't do what I do to you.” She trailed her thumb from between my ribs at the first hickey, all the way down each one and stopping at the last one below my belly button. 

“These should be mine.” She growled, compelling my to close my thighs around the overwhelming pool between them. She looked me in the eyes with a chuckle before moving to the side to whisper in my ear. 

“I'm gonna show Hope how it's done.” She mumbled against the shell of my ear before kissing my jaw below it, then moving her lips to the base of my throat, biting the skin there until I gasped against her teeth. She pulled my skin and sucked harshly, until it started to sting. 

I hummed, moving my useless hands, one to her back for a grip, the other to the apex of her thighs, running my fingers through her slick folds and drawing my hand up to my lips to drink in a taste of her arousal for the first time in weeks. 

I remembered how much she liked her own taste. 

She was still stuck, sucking on the flesh of my throat, moving down from there, to the valley of my breasts, hardly taking her mouth off of me as she worked on bruising every remaining inch of my skin with her lips, teeth and tongue. 

This was alarmingly calm in comparison to that night, so calm that I was worried, before I realized that we were both incredibly drunk the night we had sex. 

Maybe we needed some alcohol in us in order to recreate what had gone on between us before. 

“Mm,” I hummed, moving my hands from my mouth and her back to take her head from my body and look into her evergreen eyes. “Do you think we can get something to drink?” I hummed, and she grinned, raising a brow. 

“What? You can’t have sex unless you’re drunk?” She teased before crawling off of me. “Stay here, I’ll go get something.” 

I sighed and moved my arms behind my head while I waited for Penelope to get back with something to get drunk off of. It gave me a few minutes to think about what I was doing here, in this room. Penelope’s room. The room of the woman whose body had been burnt into the back of my mind for close to a month. 

The room of the woman I would soon have to arrest. 

Of course having sex with her was wrong, this would create a conflict of interest. I could get fired, or killed, which was only slightly worse, given this economy and the fact that special operatives get paid a pretty penny just for sitting at desks, let alone being detectives. 

I was suddenly overwhelmed with guilt and decided to get dressed. I stood up and pulled my panties up over my thighs and backside before getting close to the door to retrieve my bra. I was hooking it on from behind when Penelope’s door opened slowly and in peaked a familiar head, finger to her lips, instructing me to quiet down. 

“There’s someone in the house.” She warned, and suddenly, my body was thrown into high alert. “They don’t know I know they’re inside, so please, just be quiet.” She demanded, and I nodded as she closed her door, locking it from the inside, so to keep outside people in. 

I scattered around the cluttered room and opened Penelope’s middle drawer to pull out a random t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants before grabbing my gun from my bag and shoving it in the waistband of Penelope’s grey sweatpants, then my badge, looping the chain around my neck and tucking it into the top. I rushed to the door and listened closely. 

“Penelope,” Chuckled a deep voice, muffled by the wood of the door, “I thought you moved out of the country.” He chuckled, and I heard the all-too-familiar sound of a gun cocking. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Salvatore.” She assured, followed by a chuckle. 

“Why is that?” 

“You really think it would be this easy? Just…” I heard something clack against the marble counter, “kill me and act like nothing happened? What about witnesses? Someone is bound to hear the gunshot.” She reasoned. 

“Perhaps...” He stepped closer, as I could hear the heel of expensive shoes clack against the wood floor. “But there won’t be any witnesses after I kill your girlfriend.” She threatened, and my eyes widened as Penelope chuckled coyly. 

“You’re so smart, aren’t you?” She suggested, her voice getting louder as she walked near the bedroom door. “You’ve got it all figured out, except for one thing.” She assured, making the man chuckle. 

“Yeah, and What’s that?”

“My girlfriend’s a cop.” She chuckled, and it compelled me to pull out my gun and unlock the door, throwing it open and pointing my gun at the man. 

“Freeze! NYPD!” I yelled in my signature tone made just for the field, pointing my gun toward the tall, dark man holding a gun up in our direction from where he stood in the front room. “Put the gun down, and nobody gets hurt!” I demanded sternly, and he chuckled. 

“You think I’m afraid of some woman?” He asked, and something in me cracked. 

It reminded me of how hopeless I felt when I was in that relationship with Raf, feeling as though I was nothing because of my gender, because I couldn’t take care of myself and keep myself safe from his clutches. 

“You should be.” Penelope said coyly, her hand resting on her hip, and I fought the urge to close my eyes from the stress I was suddenly undergoing. 

My heart was pounding in my chest as I stood in front of Penelope to keep her from the perpetrator’s line of fire, my gun clutched firmly in my grip, finger resting on the trigger guard, mirroring the stance of his own. 

He didn’t plan on using that gun. 

“Just put the gun down, and we’ll talk.” I assured, and he scoffed. 

“You can’t help me.” He assured, and I rose a brow. 

“How do you know if you don’t let me try?” I suggested, and I watched his eyes flash with consideration for a moment. “Look,” I lifted my gun up in surrender before placing it back in the waistband of Penelope’s pants behind me, “it’s alright,” I promised, “just put down the weapon and we’ll talk.” 

“I wanna know where my brother is.” He demanded as he mimicked my movements with his gun in the back of his own pants. 

“How the hell am I supposed to know?” Penelope rolled her eyes, and I watched a strong jaw clench. 

“Don’t talk until I tell you to.” I hissed to the woman in mention. “When was the last time you saw your brother?” I inquired, and the narrow jawed man’s eyes flashed with utter rage as he pointed a finger at Penelope.

“Two months ago, when he was leaving for a trip with that… criminal!” He spat, and an amused Penelope held her hands up in surrender. 

“When was the last time you saw him?” I asked Penelope, who shrugged. 

“We split ways in Miami about half way through the trip.” She recalled, “I don’t keep tabs on him, Damon, he’s a big boy, he can take care of himself.” She assured. 

“People have been going missing around you ever since your lady died!” He spat, and before I could blink, Penelope was past me, shoving him into the wall at the back of the front room, her face in his, despite the immense height difference. 

“Don’t you dare, talk about Lucy!” She spat in his face, and he grabbed her arms from where her fist gripped his shirt, ripping them away and switching their positions. 

I took this time and lunged forward to pull him off of her. 

“Get back!” I shouted, shoving him back my his chest as he wiped the spit from his chin, his nostrils flaring, chest heaving, jaw clenched almost as hard as his white-knuckled fists. 

“If I don’t hear from my brother in the next month, just remember that I know where you live!” He spat before storming out of the apartment and slamming the door shut. 

We were silent for a moment, not daring to make a noise until the elevator dinged, and Penelope laughed in relief. 

“You really showed him!” She laughed, and I turned to her, a look of white, hot anger on my face. 

“How did you know I’m a cop?” I inquired, and she shrugged. 

“It’s pretty obvious, the way you carry yourself. And, you have a rash on your hip bones from bulletproof vests, calluses on your hands, and you were really nervous when you saw me after our little drunken escapades.” She walked back to the kitchen to finish pouring her wine, making me follow her with my eyes. “Besides,” she shrugged, “when I went through your bag for your phone, I saw your gun and badge.” I felt my chest swell with unbridled rage suddenly, and I stormed back to her room to collect my bag, shoving my gun and badge back inside before walking toward the door, picking up my clothes as I made my way to the door. “Leaving so soon?” She asked coyly, and I groaned in absolute disdain before reaching for the door. 

“Smart move though, Special Agent Saltzman,” she said, stopping me from walking out of the open door, just to hear what she had to say, “seducing me to try and figure out if I was who you were looking for.” 

I narrowed my eyes at nothing in particular before turning around and peaking my head around the corner. 

“I take it that you’re exactly who I’m looking for.” I said with venom, and she shrugged. 

“That depends,” she sauntered toward me slowly, a snake slithering across the floor, rocking from side to side as she awaited an opportunity to catch me off guard and begin suffocating me. “What does your report say I did?” 

“That’s classified information.” I insisted, and she chuckled with the raise of her eyebrows. 

“Just like the fact that you work for something a lot deeper than the NYPD?” She inquired, and I felt my jaw clench. 

“I cannot stand you.” I swore. 

“Really now?” she rose a brow, “It didn’t seem like it a few minutes ago.” 

With that, I turned on my heel and stormed out of that dreaded apartment.


	4. Trois

“Hey. Jojo,” MG chimed enthusiastically as he slid onto my desk to annoy me for yet another droning hour before work officially starts, “how was your weekend?” 

“Peachy,” I ignored the real truth in answering something so complicated before sighing and returning the question, “yours?” 

“Well, I spent most of it working on the case of that mafia guy, Diablito, and I haven’t made any progress with him at all.” He complained and I sighed. 

“I have a similar roadblock.” I chuckled with the roll of my eyes. 

“What’s going on?” He asked, and I sighed. 

“Apparently Penelope lives in New York.” I divulged, and I watched his eyes widen, jaw dropping comedically. 

“How did you figure that out?” 

“That girl at the bar? That’s her roommate.” I clicked my tongue, and he laughed at the irony. 

“I know.” I sighed, “She walked in on Hope and I…” I cleared my throat. 

“What the fuck?” He whispered harshly, and I dropped my head in my hands, feeling shame wash over me. 

“She went through my bag while I was with Hope, slipped her number in my phone, and saw my badge and gun.” 

“Josie, are you a fucking idiot?!” He shouted, and I sat up in high alert, hushing him and hitting his leg to shut him up. 

“It’s not like I expected the girl I met in Florida that I’m suddenly investigating to also happen to be living with the random girl I happened to hook up with weeks later.” I reminded him, and he sighed. 

“Maybe this case is too close to you?” He asked, and I shrugged. “You should probably just hand it off to Agent Claire, or maybe a more experienced agent like Captain Mikaelson, someone who doesn’t have a conflict of interest.” 

“Pft,” I scoffed, “If only thing, this makes me MORE interested in putting her behind bars,” I assured, “she lied to me, and she got into my things, and she ruined something great I had going.” I pouted stubbornly, making MG roll his eyes. 

“Whatever, Jo. I gotta get back to this Senor Perdido guy’s case.” He sighed as he stood up and walked back to his desk across the precinct. 

I decided to snap out of my conversation with MG and focus on the facts I had found out during the crazy weekend I had. 

For starters, I found out that she lived on 1432 Blossom Street in the apartment building down the street from the tattoo studio she works at. I know she has an enemy named Damon Salvatore who had a brother that was wronged by Penelope. 

I know that Penelope had a girlfriend named Lucy that died, and ever since her death, people have been going missing mysteriously, the most widely blamed person being Penelope. It was obvious that Penelope loved this girl, or she would not have let down her guard for something like that. 

How can I look into things with what I know? 

I thought about maybe looking through coroner’s reports for the name Lucy, but I’d have to cover the entire east coast, and I didn’t have a last name, or even a time or place of death. 

I could always visit the tattoo studio, but I didn’t know how close to Penelope any of her coworkers could be. I mean, what if they didn’t know anything, or they did, but they were so close to Penelope that they were willing to do anything for her, including killing a cop? 

The only other option I had was of the one full name I had, with the one person who knew enough and didn’t care about Penelope enough to do something about her. 

… 

“What do you want?” Asked Damon Salvatore, his head lulling and his eyes tired as he looked at me through the grid of his screen door. 

“Hi, Damon Salvatore?” I asked as I pulled my badge by the chain around my neck, out of my sweater to flash to him, “I’m Detective Saltzman, a detective for the NYPD, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.” I asked, and I watched dark eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. 

“Look, is this about me walking in on you and your girlfriend the other night? Because I-”

“She’s not my girlfriend!” I snapped before clearing my throat and ignoring his surprised eyes, “Anyway, this is about that, but you’re not in trouble.” I assured, watching his shoulders rest in relief. “I just wanted to gain a better understanding of it all, ya know, what happened to Lucy and all.” I said politely, and he sighed before opening the door and stepping out to look at me. 

“If we’re gonna talk about this, you should sit down. It could take a while.” He suggested, pointing to the swing on his porch for me to take a seat. 

Once we were seated, he sighed and began his story, my pen on my notebook at the ready for any notable statement. 

“Lucy Hernandez was a star linebacker at NYU before she came out as a trans woman, and was kicked off the team for some bullshit misconduct her teammates made up, but we all know it was a hate crime.” He scoffed before pulling a cigarette from a box in his jeans and lighting it between his lips. “Anyway, she met Penelope when she passed out drunk at the bar next door to Penelope’s tattoo parlor, and they’d been inseparable ever since.” 

“How do you know that?” I asked as I finished writing my notes in my little notepad.

“Lucy was my wife’s best friend.” He admitted, and I rose a brow. 

“Okay, and what happened? What caused her death?” I inquired, feeling a rush in my blood as I got closer to the answer I was looking for. 

“Nobody really knows what happened.” He shrugged. 

Maybe I spoke too soon. 

“I mean, I know that they were holding hands in public too late once and a gang of men backed them into a corner.” He ran his fingers through his mid length hair with a sigh, “They did awful things to them and when help came they found Lucy, all bloody and beaten up, her clothes all torn up and her pants missing. Penelope was shaky and covered in blood because she watched her bleed out before the cops and stuff even got there.” He sighed, disgust on his face as he remembered the incidence. 

“That’s awful,” I exhaled, and he nodded solemnly. 

“Yeah, it didn’t really sit with Penelope right after that,” he admitted, “she changed after that, got cold, started keeping to herself, never talked to anyone.” He sighed, dropping his head in his hands stressfully before looking me in the eyes to talk to me again. 

“Look, I know she’s a lot and it’s hard to trust her, but nobody ever made Lucy happier than Penelope did, and it’s really hard being as she spent the first twenty years of her life feeling like she didn’t belong in her own body. Penelope does fucked up shit, but there are reasons behind them, I swear.” He sighed. 

“Didn’t she hurt your brother or something?” I asked with skepticism, and he sighed.

“Stephen is hard to reach, but I finally did, and he’s fine. Back in New York in one piece, stuck in his work again.” He assured. 

“The other night, you said that he went on a trip with Penelope, what was that for?” I inquired as I continued to write my findings down thoroughly. 

“I guess Penelope had a business offer down in Florida. That’s all I know though, you’d probably have to ask him, but I can’t give you an address because I’m not so sure he still has one.” He provided as he put out the butt of his cigarette on the pole connected to the swing we were seated on. 

“Thank you so much, Mister Salvatore, have a good rest of your day.” I smiled as I stood up and stalked away, toward my car with purpose. 

I learned more in the last ten minutes than I had in weeks, and it was all thanks to the fact that I almost had sex with her. I would never admit it, but I’m happy she texted me that night. 

Now I had a new name to search for: Lucy Hernandez. 

… 

“Look,” sighed the coroner to the New York Police Department, Marie Louis, “I’m not the one who had this autopsy done and there were a lot of fishy things going on in this case, so it hasn’t been solved. In all these six years, they haven’t even brought in any suspects since they let her girlfriend go free.” She said, turning the report over to me as I flashed her a look of confusion. 

I knew this meant I needed the whole case file, so I decided to go upstairs to get it from evidence.

“You don’t have the evidence at FBI headquarters, Saltzman?” Hissed the head of evidence at the department, Officer Lockwood, who was still bitter that I advanced from Officer to Agent at twenty four, while he’s still stuck as an Officer at thirty seven. 

“Stop with the petty little games, Lockwood, you know I can’t get them anywhere but the place the report was filed.” I reminded, and the tall man crossed his arms over his chest. 

“You couldn’t just email me for it?” He inquired, making me roll my eyes. 

“There are so many reasons why I decided not to email you.” I said in a purposely condescending tone. Sometimes it’s necessary to tear down a white man to get what you want in society as a woman. “Now please,” I put my hand out, “the file.” 

“Why should I do you any favors?” He asked stubbornly, and I decided then that it was one of those times where I would have to reduce this man to a puddle of fear and his own urine. 

“Because, Officer Tyler Lockwood,” I hissed, leaning over the table that divided us to get in his face, “I am your superior officer. Not complying would result in being charged with obstruction of justice, and a violation of your orders given by a superior officer.” I got so close to him that I could feel the fear radiating off his sweaty skin. “So not only would you get fired, but you’d be arrested, and with how many people you’ve put behind bars, I don’t think it would take long for you to become someone’s prison wife.” I laughed diabolically, “So unless you want that, I suggest you get your tight little ass over there and get me my case.” I barked, and he scurried from his chair, around the stacks of evidence racks to look for my case file. 

“Impressive,” I heard from a familiar voice and looked over my shoulder to catch the familiar face. 

“Officer Bennet!” I laughed, opening my arms to hug my old friend in a blue suit. 

“Please, we were friends, call me Bonnie.” She laughed as she held me tightly. “What brings you around this neck of the woods?” Inquired my good friend as we pulled away, and I shrugged. 

“I have a case I’m working on, and I needed to gather all the information from a cold case so I can gain some understanding for a current one.” I assured, holding Lucy’s autopsy report in front of me between my folded hands. 

“Yeah, Keelin told me Freya gave you the Emerald case.” She gritted her teeth and clicked her tongue, “How’s that doozy going?” 

“Actually,” I chuckled, “I found her already, I just have to gather the evidence proving it’s her.” I chuckled, and her eyes widened. 

“Impressive,” she laughed, “but how do you know it’s her?” She inquired. 

“I saw her face and recognized her from a previous encounter we had.” I assured, managing to give away exactly what needed to be said. 

“Looks like Captain Mikaelson was right in passing up Officer Lockwood for you as the new Agency rep if you managed to uncover the hardest case of the decade in less than two months.” She commended, and I shook my head at her in confusion. 

“I’m sorry, but hardest case of the century?” I chuckled in disbelief, and her perfectly sculpted brow lifted itself. 

“Oh, you didn't know?” She laughed, and before she could say anything further, I heard the slap of the case folder hitting the table where Officer Lockwood was standing. 

“Now get out.” He cleared his throat and straightened out his uniform before sitting back down. 

“I uh…” I chuckled as I took the file and put it with the one I was holding, “I gotta get to work, it was nice seeing you, Bonnie. Let's catch up sometime.” I insisted as I walked past her, toward the back entrance where my car was located. 

“Text me!” She shouted as I walked through a precinct exit, waving goodbye. 

As soon as I got home, I opened the files and dove into the files. 

Victim: Luis Lorenzo Hernandez.   
Age: 22 Sex: M Height: 6’1

Harsh. This must mean she didn't have a chance to get her name legally changed to Lucy. 

Time of 911 call: 7: 48  
Time of arrival: 8:34  
Time of death: 8:27

To think that they could've saved her if they arrived ten minutes sooner. 

Cause of death: loss of blood due to stab wounds on victim's chest and back, as well as a lesion to the corroded artery due a slit of the throat. A gunshot wound was found in the back of victim’s head.   
Witnesses: Penelope Park   
Witness reports being on a walk with Hernandez late at night when they were attacked by a group of assailants wielding pocket knives and handguns. 

Witness was maimed, hospitalized for three weeks following the incident.   
Two gunshots on the back, one close to the cerebrum, one close to the tailbone. A three inch gash created by attacker's knife on the left side of victim's tailbone.

See case file for Penelope Park for full report. 

This must've been the attack Penelope was talking about when she told me she was jumped by an attacker with a knife. 

I had to know more about her case, now that I know there actually is a case. 

This meant I had a last name! It meant that I could do research with a real full name! 

I knew so much about this woman and her ex girlfriend, but I still didn't know why she became Emerald. 

This meant that I needed to go back to work and grab the case on Emerald.

Before I knew it I was opening the door to my apartment, only to meet with a familiar pair of green eyes staring back at me. 

“Good evening, Jojo.” She winked, and I stepped back in surprise, complete and utter disgust washing over my body as I met eyes with hers again, my arms crossing over my chest. 

“What the hell are you doing at my house?” I hissed, and she chuckled, leaning against the door frame, her hand on her opposing hip as she looked up at me. 

“‘Good evening to you too, Penny, how are you?’ I'm great, Jojo! Thanks!” She smirked after her little one sided conversation before answering me. “It’s a new era of technology, baby girl, I just had to know your first and last name to type it into the search bar before ‘New York Address,’ and here I am.” She shrugged, gesturing to the space around her before crossing her arms over her chest. “Aren't you going to invite me in?” 

“Are you crazy?” I scoffed, and she smirked. 

“That's up for debate. Would you rather me let myself in when you're not home,” she paused before gasping dramatically, “or worse, while you're sleeping.” She laughed as I sighed and reluctantly opened the door to my apartment, allowing her to saunter past me. 

“How long have you lived here?” She inquired as she looked around at the dusty place, lined from floor to ceiling with boxes and bags of case files and research from my most current case. 

“Three years.” 

“It looks like you never unpacked.” She chuckled as she looked at the pictures in frames on the walls by the front door. “Who's this?” She inquired as she pointed at a picture of my sister and my moms. 

“None of your business.” I snapped as I tried to look as nonchalant as possible in my efforts to get to the file on my kitchen table before she did. 

“Ouch,” she feigned, clutching her chest in a haphazard attempt to at dramatics, “that's not way to speak to your guest, is it, Jojo?” She chuckled, and I sighed as I finally reached the file and closed it.

“Well, excuse me if I don't want a lying, thieving stalker knowing about my life.” I rolled my eyes defensively as I sat back down in my place, and she clicked her tongue as she walked behind me, her hand running from one of my stiff shoulders, across my neck to the other, sending chills up my tense spine. 

“I don't want to hurt you, my sweet, sweet Jojo.” She assured before growling into my ear, “Not beyond the best kind of hurt, of course.” She chuckled, making me shudder before pulling away sharply. 

“Is there a reason you're here? I was headed out when you came in.” I sighed with discontent.

“What,” she pouted before wrapping her arms around my shoulders and toyed with the hairs on my arms, her fingers trickling up my flesh in the pattern of my goosebumps up my neck, “You don't like my company?” 

“Not after the last time you were my company, thanks.” I assured, swallowing my nerves, “Besides, I have a work matter to attend to.” 

“Is it my file?” She asked, and I froze dead in my skin, finally allowing her to let go of me and sit across me at the table. “A little birdy told me that you retrieved the case file and autopsy report for Lucy Hernandez.” She sighed, her eyes flickering to the folders in front of me. 

“And what are you gonna do with that information?” I asked, raising my brow expectantly, and she chuckled. 

“What do you think I’m gonna do?” She jumped forward suddenly to scare me, “Kill you?” When I jumped, she sat back against the chair with another laugh. “I just wanna know what you know, other than what those folders told you.” She nodded toward them with her hands crossed together atop the table. 

“Why do you want to know? And why would I tell you?” I scoffed, and she shrugged. 

“I’m looking for answers too.” She assured, and I rose a brow. 

“What does that even mean?” 

“Look,” she sighed, dropping her sly smile to talk to my sincerely, “you read those files, I was wronged, the love of my life is dead, and I refuse to believe it was just some hate crime.” She admitted, making me soften up a little bit. “I want to know who killed her, and I want to know what I can do to help. I can give you another witness testimony even.” She sighed, and I met her with something similar. 

“Look, I wasn’t assigned this case, Penelope, so I can’t help you right now. But I can definitely pick up the case and find your girlfriend’s killer as soon as I solve my current case.” I promised, and she rose a brow. 

“You mean the case where you’re investigating me.” She scoffed, catching me off guard. 

“I mean, is there actually anything for me to investigate?” I inquired, and she chuckled. 

“Oh yeah, I promise you there is. But it’ll probably take a lot longer for you to solve my case than a hate crime case with a witness and blood evidence.” She assured, and I rose a brow. 

“It’s a cold case, Penelope.” I reminded, and she shrugged. 

“Six years worth of people getting caught and being processed in the database.” She hinted, “Six years worth of people who could’ve slipped up and gotten caught long after their time in a gang doing hate crimes.” She finished, and that was it. 

“I’ll tell you what,” I sighed, leaning over the table and looking at her closely, ready to cut a deal, “I’ll help you find Lucy’s killer if you promise to give me a signed confession of all your crimes.” I proposed, and she scoffed. 

“C’mon, you can’t be that gullible.” She laughed, “How do you know I’ll actually hold up my end of the deal?” She asked skeptically, and I shrugged. 

“I don’t, but I know that it’s the only shot I’ll have at actually catching you for your crimes.” I admitted, and she seemed to weigh it over in her head for a moment before she nodded and held out a hand for me to shake. 

“You got a deal.” She assured, and I met her hand with mine to shake. 

….

She didn’t leave for two hours, which meant it was more efficient to just go to sleep and get the file in the morning at work. 

It was ten in the evening and I wasn’t tired yet, so I had a left over salad and jumped in the shower before lying in bed with music playing in the room from a speaker in the corner. 

Sometimes when I can’t sleep, I like to work myself up so that I can come crashing down. 

I inhaled deeply before sliding my flat hand down my stomach, taking a dive into my sleep shorts, closing my eyes to begin imagining scenarios in my head. 

The only thing I’ve been able to think about lately was Penelope, and she didn’t have to know what went on in my mind at night after all the lights were off. 

I imagined the ghost of her lips on my neck, and the sinking of her teeth into the flesh right there, I thought about her head burrowed between my thighs, her tongue flicking up the length of my sex, humming and moaning at my taste against me, the vibrations making my body buffer under my clit as I rolled it beneath my fingertips, my hips rolling into my hand, my toes wiggling against my mattress. I could almost hear her breathing in my ear as her fingers toyed with my clit, her teeth tugging on the flesh of my breasts as she dared draw out my screams. 

I couldn’t help but let out a sharp moan as my hips bucked especially hard against the ghost of the best sex partner I’ve had in my entire life. I gasped and shuddered as my wetness began to leak between the two swells of my beckside, making me feel something deeply sultry. 

With every roll of my fingers against my bundle of straining nerves, my thighs tremmered violently, my moans coming out in the same shaky, desperate fashion as my stomach began to tighten. 

“O-oh God, Penelope!” I gasped breathily, my body squirming beneath my own touch as I sucked on the lip I had stuck between my top and bottom teeth. Finally, my orgasm racked through my body, sending me over the edge into a high that would do exactly as I had intended.


	5. Quatre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six. Thousand. Words. 
> 
> Anyway, if you wanna talk about this with me, follow me on twitter @posiewosie and instagram @tiddyposie

“Morning, babe.” Grinned Hope from across the counter from me as she set the two iced coffees down and leaned over them to kiss my lips softly. 

“I didn’t realize you worked here.” I chuckled as I took the coffee and took a drink. 

“Yeah, I have a couple jobs.” She shrugged with a smile, leaning onto her forearms to look at my seated form. “There’s not much to do when you’ve lived here as long as I have, so you just occupy yourself with work.” 

“You definitely have the smile to be a barista.” I chuckled over the cold metal of my straw, watching her blush as she looked down at her hands. 

“You never told me what you do.” She recalled. 

“I’m a cop.” I chimed, and she rose a brow. 

“Yeah,” she shrugged, looking at me before tucking her bottom between her teeth. “I can definitely see that.” 

“Yeah?” I flirted, “Why’s that?” I rose a brow, and she shook her head in uncertainty. 

“I don’t know, you just have the body for holstering a gun.” She winked, and I rolled my eyes. 

“I’m more of a detective than a cop, actually.” I corrected, making her raise a brow. 

“So you don’t carry a gun?” She asked. 

“I do…” 

“I rest my case.” She shrugged, making me laugh. “Wanna do something with me tonight?” She asked with a soft smile on her lips, making me grit my teeth. 

“I can’t tonight,” I sighed with misfortune, “I’ve got a work thing, but we can do something any other night you’re free.” I promised, and she nodded, a giddy smile on her lips. 

“I’m free thursday night. What do you wanna do?” She hummed, and I took a minute to think before smiling. 

“Let me surprise you.” I insisted, and she rose a brow. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah!” I laughed, “It’ll be fun, and romantic. I’ll pick you up at six.” I promised, watching her blue eyes light up with the sides of her cheeks as the bell to the front door chimed, meaning somebody walked in. 

“I’ll see you then.” She grinned, leaning back over the counter to kiss my cheek before going to greet the new customer. 

After the mood boosting coffee run, I took the two drinks to work a few blocks up. I sat one of the drinks on MG’s empty desk before immediately sitting at my own to pull out the files on Lucy. 

“One piping hot attempted murder case file, coming right up.” MG hummed as he dropped the file on my desk in front of me. “No wonder you didn’t want to visit that locker though,” he laughed as he took his usual seat on my desk, “that Lockwood guy is such an asshole.” He sighed as I placed the file between the autopsy report and the 

“Thanks, your payment is on your desk.” I said quickly before diving into the top file again, this time not ready to skip around. 

“Hey, we haven’t had a chance to really talk since the bar, let’s do somethin’ tonight?” He suggested, making me look up. 

“I’m busy tonight, and probably tomorrow, and definitely thursday. Friday?” I suggested, and he rose a brow. 

“Since when did you become Miz Popular?” He asked teasingly. 

“I have an investigation thing tonight at some new club,” I half lied, “I have a me day tomorrow, and I have a date on thursday.” I shrugged, “I’m still not Miz Popular.” I promised, and he nodded. 

“Alright, Friday night it is.” He chuckled before leaving me to go drink his own coffee. 

Okay, time to dive into these reports. 

There were some things I skimmed over, not taking note of them before. 

Weight: 220lb Eyes: Green Race: Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern Ethnicity: Cuban, Iranian Hair: Black, long

Why would a bunch of gang members attack someone that big? The woman was over six feet tall and over two hundred pounds. She was the linebacker of a college football team, for God’s sake, it was her job to beat people up, and they decided to go after the biggest dog in the park? And if it was a hate crime, how would random people know just by looking at a woman that she was transgender? Especially since Penelope said they walked up on the two from behind while they were walking home. 

So how could it be a hate crime? Sure, it could’ve been an act of homophobia, but if that was the case, the perpetrators wouldn’t have torn her clothes off of her to expose her genitals and chest area. 

I looked through the file for a picture of the woman, just to see if this woman had dark enough skin for it to be racially motivated, and was perplexed to see that there was no photo attached to the case file. I sighed before grabbing the autopsy file, hoping there would be one there, but the photo that is supposed to be printed onto the front page of the report was cut out with scissors. 

How odd. 

I opened Penelope’s file, and she didn’t have a picture either. 

I decided to send Penelope a text. 

Did you take the pictures from the case reports last night? 

Almost immediately, I got a response. 

No… but I did get someone to take the picture from my file a few years ago. 

I rolled my eyes before typing out a response. 

I need a picture of Lucy for reference. 

I put my phone down and continued reading through the files for reference when I got to the evidence category and felt a buzz in my pocket and immediately pulled my phone out to look at the photo I was sent. 

It was a candid photo of Lucy sitting on a counter, looking at Penelope from across the kitchen as they smiled at each other. 

I’d never seen a smile like that on Penelope’s face, it was exhilarating. Her eyes peaked up, almost making her eyes disappear with absolute happiness. Lucy’s long, thick hair was in waves crowning her face, pouring down her back and shoulders like a waterfall, a soft, warm smile on her plump lips, her legs spread to accommodate the corner of the countertop, hands gripping the corner as she leaned forward. She had soft, caramel colored skin that brought beautiful contrast between her hair, eyes and skin. 

She looks like she was a great person. 

I texted to Penelope, who almost immediately texted back. 

She’s the only person who’s ever loved me. If she was able to love someone like me, there’s no doubt she was the best of us. She didn’t deserve to die. 

Penelope was right, Lucy didn’t deserve to die. 

Now, I felt like I had to solve this case, I didn’t have a choice anymore. 

Even if Penelope didn’t give me that signed confession, I had to do something about this. 

… 

“Hey, Jojo.” I heard Penelope say from behind me, and I turned around from where I was standing, looking at the art samples on the wall of her studio. 

“O-oh,” I stuttered as I took in the silver and dark blue dress before me with a gulp. “I didn’t know we were gonna dress up.” I chuckled, and she rose a brow before looking me up and down. 

“We’re going to a club,” she laughed, “I mean, if you lose the blazer, it almost works.” She chuckled, taking my bag and setting it on the ground before removing my blazer and unbuttoning my white shirt from where it was buttoned up to my neck. She looked up into my eyes from my neck and bit her lip before clearing her throat and pulling my collar out a little bit. I looked down and blushed upon seeing the fading hickies still littered on my neck from when she and I were last this close, eye to eye. 

I could see the swells between my breasts, and behind the shadow of my top, the hickies laid there by Hope the day before the ones on my neck. 

“Luckily, sexy marks like this are encouraged.” She smirked, “Now, let’s go.” She shrugged before walking out, waiting for me to grab my bag and blazer before following her to my car. 

The drive was short, and before I knew it, we were walking right up to the booming club, Penelope flashing a grin to the bouncer, compelling him to pull the velvet rope back and let us in. 

The club was dark, aside from the black lights and flashy makeup worn by men and women to make them glow. The music was extremely loud, and my head began to hurt within ten minutes of us being there. 

“What are we doing here?” I shouted, and she took my hand, dragging me through the sweaty bodies, to a VIP area, guarded by two bouncers and another velvet rope. 

“Don’t say anything about being a cop, these people will skin you alive, then me if they found out.” She said through gritted teeth, igniting me with fear. 

“What?” I asked, and she hushed me as she waved to someone I couldn’t see.

“Penny!” Called a shorter brunette from behind the rope and guards, who waved at one to allow us through the perimeter. “It’s been too long!” Laughed the kind woman, making Penelope lean in to kiss her cheek nonchalantly. “Who’s your friend?” She asked as her eyes trailed down my body, and Penelope chuckled before taking my hand and pulling me forward, “Is this a customer?” She winked, making me raise a brow. “Looks a little too uptight to be a new hire.” She hummed, batting her eyelashes up at me.

“No, no…” She laughed, the most unnatural sound I’ve ever heard escape that woman’s lips. “You know I don’t do that stuff.” She assured, and Vicki chuckled. 

“Yeah, yeah, you always have been shy to get your hands dirty. It’s good money though, if you ever change your field of work.” She winked, and Penelope nodded. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She lied before clicking her tongue and pulling me closer to her to show me off. “This, is my girlfriend, Josie.” She grinned, and I did all I could not to feel deeply uncomfortable, not just because Vicki just asked if I was a prostitute, or because she told this Madam my name, but also because this asshole she-devil just called me her girlfriend. 

“Awe, how sweet!” She laughed fakely, “I didn’t know if you’d ever give it another go after…” She nodded the insinuation and I felt Penelope’s grip tighten around my hand, the rage she was holding back evident as she choked out another fake laugh.

“Yep, me neither,” she looked up at me with a smile, less fake before turning back to Vicki the female pimp, “but when I met Josie, I just knew.” She sighed, and Vicki cooed. 

“So, tell me, what brings you to my humble abode?” She laughed as she picked up a lit marijuana cigarette from the crystal ashtray on the table beside the stark white couch. 

“I’m actually looking for my box of old stuff from when I used to live here. Do you happen to still have it by chance?” She hummed hopefully, and the woman pouted. 

“You’re no fun anymore!” She complained, “Why don’t you sit down, have a drink and a line.” she insisted, and I had to fight everything in my from snapping my head to look at Penelope in shock at the thought of her snorting cocaine. 

“I can’t, Nick, I have to keep my nose clean for work.” Penelope responded easily, “I have to go on a last minute flight somewhere and need my passport, which is in the box.” She grinned, and Nicki gave her a sour face. 

“Fine…” She complained, “The box is up in your old room… nobody really goes up there for anything, so it’ll be dusty, but nobody messes with it either.” She assured, and Penelope grinned before leaning down to kiss the girl on the cheek again. “It was nice meeting you, Jolene.” She smiled softly. 

“Don’t even bother correcting her, it’s better she doesn’t remember anyway.” Penelope whispered before taking me and pulling me behind a curtain to room filled with strippers twirling on stripper poles. I immediately looked down at my feet to avoid the gaze of any strippers or patrons as Penelope pulled me behind a door, in what seemed to be a kitchen. 

“It’s okay to look,” Penelope chuckled, “that’s what they’re there for.” She assured. 

“I-I just don’t like objectifying women and using their bodies for viewing pleasure.” I admitted as I followed her up the stairs in the back of the empty kitchen. There were two doors at the top of the steps across from each other, and Penelope took me into the one on the right, opening the door and letting me in before closing it behind me. 

“You used me for your pleasure.” She reminded. 

“Yeah, but the pleasure was mutual.” I justified, and green eyes flashed up at me mischievously. 

“Not last night when you were screaming my name as you touched yourself.” She whispered in my ear, making me blush as she walked further into the room. 

“H-how did you know that?” 

“I didn’t.” She winked over her shoulder at me as she walked to the small twin bed and reached under it for a shoe box. 

Size thirteen Doc Martens boots. 

They obviously belonged to Lucy, because the box was almost big enough to fit with Penelope inside. She sat on the bed and opened the box to look at what was inside. I sat on the old, dusty bed beside her and watched as she set the stack of pictures and postcards on the bed so she could look through the thumb drives at the bottom of the box. 

I picked them up and looked at the top one, a picture of Lucy sitting on the hood of a bright red muscle car, probably a classic, she was smiling, her hair dangling behind her as her head was tilted back to enjoy the warmth of the setting sun. 

The next one was a polaroid taken of Penelope and Lucy both, the shorter of the two on Lucy’s back, arms wrapped around her neck as the two laughed, the most natural smiles on their faces, eyes invisible under the lines of their joy. 

The next one was of Lucy sleeping, her legs up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her bent knees, a soft, relaxed look on her face. 

“That was the only picture I’ve ever taken where she wasn’t happy.” Penelope chimed, her voice soft as she looked over my shoulder at the photo. “She was so mad when she saw I took this picture.” She chuckled sadly, “She told me that she bought me that camera so I could perfect my art, not so that I could take pictures of her sleeping.”

“And what did you say?” I hummed, a soft, sad smile on my lips as I imagined the moment in my head. 

“I said, ‘I am, because you’re art, Loose.’” She sniffled, and I looked at her face, noticing the tears falling down her cheeks. “She just laughed and spun me around before kissing me.” 

“I wish I knew her.” I said sadly, and she hummed. 

“She would’ve liked you. You’re both all bashful and socially conscious.” She laughed, reaching up to wipe the tear stains from her cheeks. 

“You can talk to me about her all you want.” I assured, and she looked up at me in wonder. “You know, maybe I can get a feel of what would’ve made someone want to hurt her.” I lied, and she knew, but she didn’t question it out loud. 

“She was the kindest person I ever met.” She sniffled, “The was my whole world for so many years, and now, I act like she doesn’t exist because six years later, I’m still not over it.” She chuckled, wiping her tears again. 

“That isn’t something you just get over, Pen.” I assured, reaching over to take her hand for assurance, and she looked up at me with a sad smile, “You’re not gonna get over it, and nobody should expect you to. What you need, is closure.” 

“At this point, I don’t think I’ll be getting that.” She chuckled, and I clicked my tongue. 

“Don't say that.” I demanded, “I'm here, I'm helping you.” I reminded, and she scoffed.

“Why did you become a cop anyway?” She asked with a hopeless tone in her voice. 

“I was in a really bad place a few years ago, and the police saved me.” I shrugged, “I want to be that for someone else.” 

“What was it?” 

“Hm?” 

“The bad place. What happened?”

“Oh,” I chuckled, “I moved here from Georgia with my boyfriend when I was eighteen, and he turned out to be abusive. I didn't have any friends to stay with, and I couldn't afford much on a cashier's salary, so I was stuck.” I admitted. 

“What was his name?” she asked, her tone guarded. 

“Rafael.” I sighed, my chest tight as I said his name out loud. “Rafael Waithe.” 

“Is that why you had all those boxes in the front room?” she inquired, “You're afraid of settling in because the last time you felt settled, your character was destroyed.” She assumed. 

“I-I…” I didn't know what to say. I didn't know if she was right, I never thought about it like that. “Most of those are old case files.” 

“You can't lie to me, Jojo.” She said seriously, “I'm a professional liar. Remember?” 

“I guess I never thought about it like that.” I scratched the back of my neck. 

“It was that way for me after Lucy died.” She admitted, looking down at our fingers as she toyed with them mindlessly. 

“I see that.” I chimed as I looked around the empty room. “Is that why you started doing cocaine?” I asked cautiously, and she shrugged. 

“At first, yeah. Then, during one especially awful trip, Lucy came to me and told me she's disappointed in me for using her death as an excuse not to live my life.” She chuckled bitterly, “That was the last time I was in this room. I decided to honor her memory by stopping things like this from happening.” 

“So… you went all ‘vigilante’ and killed bad people?” I asked, and she chuckled.

“I started off by walking around with a pocket knife and following gang members into alleys and walking out alone…” She trailed off before taking the picture out of my lap to look at it. “Then I realized she wouldn't want that either.” 

“So what did you do then?” 

“I stole a lot of money.” She chuckled, “I stole it from bad people, and I donated most of it to trans and gay youth centers.” she admitted. 

“And you pocketed the rest?” 

“I gave the rest to her family.” 

“What about now?” I asked.

“I've calmed down lately. Ever since Diablito hit the streets, I've been making myself scarce for the most part so I don't get blamed for his drug empire.” 

“Wait…” I shook my head in confusion… “You killed some gang bangers and stole from corporate sharks.” I said, processing the information, “That's it?” 

“Yeah, why?”

“Your file says you've done much worse. They think you're some sort of organization with people who work for you and steal jewels and deal drugs and kill people for you.” I divulged, making her scoff with the roll of your eyes. 

“They always blame things on the easiest way out.” she complained, “Diablito is the reason for half the murders in New York and because I'm more widely known, they blame it on the girl who only ever wanted to avenge the love she lost.”

I couldn't believe this. I was blaming all of this on Penelope when it was MG's perpetrator all along.

To be fair, I was never told to think any differently. They gave me my suspect and I was just going on what I was told and showed. 

Just like how nobody second guessed the fact that gang members killed Lucy for a hate crime. 

“Oh my God, Penelope.” I suddenly mumbled and she looked up from the picture to meet my eyes. 

“Hm?” 

“It was Diablito.” I assured, and Penelope looked at me with a scoff. 

“That's ridiculous.” 

“Is it though?” I asked realistically, “Think about it; a gang of random people decided to chase after a random couple, take one look at you and correctly assume that Lucy is trans, then attempt kill you both, at random, without stealing anything, or getting anything in return?” I scoffed, “There was a motive and a mastermind. The gang hate crime was a convenient cover up.” 

“Yeah, but that would mean that Lucy did something to provoke a mafia king enough for him to kill her, and Lucy was the sweetest woman, she never hurt anyone in her life, she once cried when I killed a spider.” She stood up and began to pace, a thumb drive and the photos in either of her hands as she became distressed. 

“Maybe it wasn't intentionally provoked,” I hypothesized, “or what if someone got her mixed up with someone else? Or what if she was close to someone who wronged him?” 

“No, no, no!” she yelled as she put the box down, tears falling from her eyes again as she imagined all my theories. “Look, I'll do anything to prove that theory wrong.” she whimpered, and I stood up with worry before gathering her in my arms, letting her cry into my chest. “I can't find out it was him.” She whimpered, “Because if it was, then I did exactly what he did, and I killed innocent people.” 

“Nobody in New York is innocent.” I promised, running my fingers through her hair and kissing her forehead. 

“Lucy was.” She whimpered. 

“She wasn't a gang member.” I reminded. “She was good person. She was the people you saved from gang members by stopping them.” I assured, and she laughed. 

“You're a cop, aren't you supposed to arrest me for this instead of convincing me that I'm not a criminal?” 

“Yeah, but I'm human first.” I promised, and she chuckled before pulling back and looking up at me. I reached down and wiped her tears with each of my thumbs. “Everyone comes with scars, remember?” I smiled, and before I could blink, her lips were on mine. 

The kiss was desperate and hungry, her hands moving behind my head to tangle in my hair. I felt my knees buckle under me and pulled away before a moan escaped my lips.

“Penelope, you're not thinking clearly.” I gasped, and she shook her head profusely. 

“I haven't thought this clearly in years, Josie.” She whimpered, moving her hand from my hair to run her thumb across my lips. said desperately. “I have only ever felt this special with one other person, Jojo,” she balled her fist around the collar of my shirt and yanked me closer to her. “You make me feel special.” 

She definitely was special. 

“Y-you’re really vulnerable right now, Pen.” I sputtered, and she exhaled. 

“I love it when you call me that.” She smiled, her green orbs so soft I thought they’d melt if they got any softer. 

“Look,” I sighed, stepping away from her so I could think clearly without my nostrils being assaulted by her warm vanilla scent. “You’re in a lot of pain, and I don’t want to take advantage of you while you’re in this place.” I assured, and she sighed before taking my hands and holding them in hers, pulling them to her lips where she kissed the knuckles of my hands, then balled them against her chest. 

“It isn’t like that, Jojo, I promise.” She hummed, making my heart flutter in my chest.

“If it isn’t like that, then you’ll be okay with me just being here.” I argued, and she nodded. 

“I am, I have been.” She reminded before stepping forward again, “But right now, I need more.” She whispered, wrapping her arms around my neck, “That night we spent together in Miami? It was so much deeper than just sex.” She divulged, “You made me feel seen. You made me feel like for the first time in six years, I was more important than my trauma and my crimes.” 

“W-well,” I inhaled shakily before taking one of my hands from hers and taking her cheek in my hand, caressing her jaw with my thumb, “you clearly are.” I pointed out, “you’re strong, and beautiful, and your heart is bigger than anyone else’s I’ve ever met. Penelope, you’re special.” I felt my chest grow heavy when she smiled at me with a beautifully genuine smile. 

“You know all that about me and I don’t know anything about you.” She chuckled, and I smiled. 

“There’s not much to know.” I assured. 

“I don’t think so.” She hummed, “I think you’re afraid of getting vulnerable with me.” 

“You’re dangerous.” I reminded, and she rolled her eyes. 

“I’m harmless. You’re the dangerous one.” She accused, “You’re an enigma.” She laughed. 

“Hardly.” I rolled my eyes. 

“Listen…” She sighed as she pulled my right hand from where she had it in hers on her chest. “I want you...” she trailed, moved my right hand to the middle of her stomach, and the hand from her jaw to her throat, “...to do awful things to me.” she hummed, and I felt my chest heave as I watched her chin tilt up, her lips parting as her eyes hooded to while green eyes glazed over at me. She guided my hand down her stomach, and I immediately tightened my grip on her throat, pulling her close until she gasped, her breath on my chin. She laughed masochistically, her emerald windows flashing a deep evergreen, her lip falling between her teeth in excitement. “Do it,” she whimpered, “ruin me.” 

Gladly. 

Before I knew it, I had her turned around, my left hand holding her throat roughly as I unzipped her dress with my right hand. I shimmied the silver and blue off of her before unhooking her bra and pulling her underwear down around her ankles so she could step out of them. 

I loosened my grip on her throat and dragged my fingertips down the length of her neck before planting a kiss on the back, then around to her shoulder before she turned around to look me in the eyes. She took my face in her hands and kissed me, her open mouth lingering against mine as I poked my tongue out and traced the bottom line of her lip, taking it between my teeth and tugging until she growled, ripping the ends of my shirt open. She pushed me forward as she reached behind me to unhook my bra, then to my pants to unbutton them. I stepped out of my shoes and helped her help me out of my slacks and underwear before she pushed me onto the little bed and straddled me. 

She latched her lips to my left nipple, sinking her teeth into the flesh immediately, making me gasp before fisting her hair and using my leverage to flip us until I was on top of her. I took a moment just to look at her, her brown nipples standing up enticingly, her perfect olive skin glistening under her sweat and arousal. She bit her lip under my gaze and reached between her thighs, eyes pouring into mine as she toyed with her clit between her middle and ring finger to get a rouse out of me. 

It definitely worked. 

I took her wrist and leaned down to lick her fingers clean, and she moaned, her hips rolling beneath me, anticipating my touch. I took her hips in my hands and pulled her closer as I leaned down and sank my teeth into the skin below her belly button before trailing down to her legs. I skipped over her sex and sank my teeth into the flesh of her inner thigh, licking and sucking a trail until I could smell her sex just an inch away. 

I licked my lips at the sight of her, lying before me, waiting for me to do something, anything, and I smirked before starting at the bottom, teasing her entrance with my tongue, swirling around the entrance and delving in to gather some of her wetness to use on her straining clit. I dragged my tongue through her folds and she rolled her hips in a slow, steady rhythm as she let out mewls of satisfaction, her fingers tugging on her own dusky nipples as she looked me in the eyes. 

I twirled my tongue around her clit before wrapping my lips around it and sucking tentatively, my two pointer fingers entering her snatch with a suddenness that elicited a strangled gasp from Penelope's throat, her hips bucking off the bed, into my face. 

I tickled her walls as I flicked my wrist between her trembling thighs, eliciting a breathy ‘oh’ with each hook of my fingertips. 

“Yes, o-oh my God,” she gasped, moving one of her hands from her own breast, down to grip my hair to prompt my tongue to flick her clit again. “Josie, I-I…” I curled my fingers between her tight walls, making them tighten as she thrashed under me. 

I removed my lips from her clit and blew cold air upon it, making her fingers to grip my hair more harshly. 

At this point, I knew she was ready to explode, so I flicked my tongue onto her clit in time with my pumping fingers, my arm growing tired as her body writhed harder against me.

“Fuck, Jo, I…” She gasped lastly before finally relenting her tight grip on my fingers. Her hips lifted from her bed and she gripped my head and arm frantically, body thrashing and rolling under me as I slowed my movements to allow her hips’ slowing.

I pulled my fingers from her snatch and put them between her lips, allowing her to suck on them eagerly, moaning around my fingers as the pressure from her sucking darted down my digits in a mind clouding way. 

She let out a gutteral moan and took my hair up to meet her lips again. 

She moaned into my mouth as her hand flattened against my breast, making my nipple sharpen against her palm while her tongue danced with mine around the taste of her juices. 

Her hand slid down the flat of my stomach and didn't stop until she was toying with my clit, making me moan around her tongue. 

I began to roll my hips into her hand as she entered me with her two middle fingers, making me grunt as she hit me deep, nudging my G-spot with her middle finger as her thumb twirled around my clit expertly. I moaned in discontent when she pulled out of me to place her hand between our mouths to suck on them. She moved her hand back between us and entered me again before attaching our lips again, this time flicking her wrist so fast that I had to pull away and sit up to ride her fingers roughly, gasping and moaning, my breasts bouncing as she neared me to my orgasm and threw me over the edge before I could even blink. 

I gasped as my body stuttered and fell on top of her in a heap, my naked chest heaving against hers while she pulled out to drink my juices from her fingers again, but I took it before she did, moaning at the blending of our musks. 

“Mm,” she hummed as she eyed me under the hoods, “you taste so good.” She gasped. 

I didn't say anything, I just hummed and listened to her heart pound against my head, my fingers toying with the wrinkles of her nipples. 

“Thank you.” Penelope hummed, breaking the silence before running her fingers through the hair nearest my temple. 

“I didn't do anything.” I muttered, and I felt her chest vibrate as she chuckled.

“You're the only thing keeping me sane.” She admitted. “I don't need to explain myself to you, you just know how I am and you don't question it.” she reminded. “You do so much without even trying.” 

“You’re welcome.” I mumbled and I felt her look down at me, so I looked up at her. “What?” 

“You’re so quiet sometimes.” She chuckled, “Tell me something about yoi, anything.” 

I thought for a moment, wracking my brain for something worth saying. “I have two moms.” I admitted, and she rose a brow. 

“Is it true that everyone who was raised by gay parents ends up gay then?” She jested. 

“In this case, yes.” I humored.

“Well,” Penelope hummed, “you're one person. I'm sure that if you had a sibling, they'd be straight.” She justified.

“No, she's not.” 

“What?” 

“I have a twin sister, she's not straight.” I divulged. 

“A twin?” She scoffed, “No way are the two people in this world who look as perfect as you.” She said smoothly.

“We're fraternal twins.” I countered. 

“Is she older?” 

“How'd you know?” 

“You seem like you're used to being second best to her a lot.” She observed. 

“That's how it used to be.” I admitted, and she rose a perfectly sculpted brow again. 

“What changed?” 

“I don't wanna talk about it.” I deflected. 

“C’mon, Jojo, I told you my tragic back story.” She pried, making me exhale. 

“Look, I'm just not ready to talk about that with you.” I said defensively befkre turning to sit up. 

“Hey, I'm sorry,” Penelope's voice went soft, and I felt the little bed move before her hand was flat against my bare back. “I didn't realize it was that deep.” 

“Forget it.” I sighed before standing up and grabbing my clothes to dress myself. “We have to take a look at that thumb drive like we came here to do.” I reminded after putting on my bra, groaning as I remembered my buttons were broken off my shirt. 

Why did I let her do that? 

After a few minutes of fixing ourselves we were walking back through the club to say goodbye to Vicki. 

“Did you find what you were looking for, Penny?” Vicki asked, eying the shoebox in the hand not holding mine. 

“Yeah,” smiled Penelope fakely, “we're just gonna go now. Thanks so much, Nick.” 

“What? You're not gonna stay? Have a drink?” She pouted.

“No, we can't, we have an early flight to catch.” Penelope made the same face, and Nicki scrunched up her face in distaste. 

“Oh, well be sure to step by when you can have some fun, okay?” She asked before looking me up and down, then smirking, “or… more fun.” she winked, touching the partially open lapel of my top for emphasis, making me blush. 

“Yeah,” Penelope smirked in that devious way she tends to do, “we got a little… carried away.” 

“Hot.” Vicki laughed, her eyes not leaving me. “Don't you talk?” She asked with intrigue, and again, I felt Penelope's grip on my hand tighten. 

“Not much.” I said sharply, making Vicki raise a thin brow to Penelope.

“You know what they say about the quiet ones,” Vicki said skeptically as she looked me in the eyes deeply, “they have the most to hide.” 

“You know what else they say about the quiet ones?” I asked, warning I my voice, and she rose a brow at me, obviously liking that I took her challenge. “That they're the most dangerous ones.” We faced off for a moment, and I noticed Penelope's discomfort in my periphery. 

“Yeah?” Vicki asked, a dangerous tone in her voice and I knew had to fix this, so I let go of Penelope’s hand to step closer to the shorter woman. I licked my lips and grew dangerously close, knowing she wouldn't dare move and give up dominance. I leaned down and inhaled her jasmine scent before whispering in her ear. 

“Especially in bed.” I growled bbefore tugging on the lobe of her ear with my teeth. She shuttered before turning her face to look at me, a look of lust in her hazel eyes, lingering as I stepped away to get back behind Penelope.

“I like her.” She smirked to Penelope, whose body washed over with relief. 

“I'll be sure to bring her next time I visit then.” She smiled before taking my hand and dragging me to the front door.

“That went well.” I stated as we walked out toward the car.

“What did you say to her?” Penelope asked as I rounded my vehicle and opened the door.

“Don't worry about it.”


	6. Cinque

I was supposed to meet up with Penelope again yesterday, but she bailed, so I ended up doing a day to myself after all, which is depressing, since I pity myself most of the time. I mean, who wouldn’t? I live in a cramped one bedroom apartment where the walls are lined with boxes from the floor to the ceiling. I can’t even open windows because the boxes block out sunlight. 

I just sat around and played around with the old ukulele I found in the first box I got into in some short-lived burst of motivation to clean my house that ended the moment I saw the ukulele and realized I would’ve rather been doing anything other than cleaning. 

After a couple hours of that, I remembered I have a date with Hope the next day, and I set up for that on the roof of my building before eating the rest of my asian salad from the other day.

Now, it’s Thursday and I had to go back to the evidence locker at the NYPD precinct to get the evidence box containing the surveillance tape from the crime scene so that I could use it for reference before I really dive into the names and information on the thumb drive from Penelope’s shoebox and look back at all the evidence for reference. 

“You don’t even have jurisdiction for this case, Saltzman.” Complained Officer Lockwood, and I rolled my eyes. 

“I’m an agent of the FBI, Tyler,” I reminded, “I have jurisdiction over every last shred of evidence in that locker if I wanted it, but I don’t, so luckily, you get to keep your hord to yourself another day.” I snarked and he garbled before taking his clipboard back into the locker. 

“This isn’t fair, I didn’t do anything, I’m a victim, man!” Complained a chillingly familiar voice from down the hallway, making me snap my head behind me to see the fuming man thrashing in the arms of officer Bonnie Bennett. “You!” He snarled as the two of them passed me, Bonnie keeping as quiet as possible as she pulled him far away from me until I could barely see the cuts and blood falling from his busted lip, bloody nose and cut eyebrow , “You snitched, didn’t you?!” he screamed as he fought against his hand cuffs, jerking the strong officer around as he tried to charge at me, making my heart pound in my chest so harshly that I thought I’d collapse. 

My chest was heaving, my hands were shaking and my throat was tight as he disappeared around the corner and through a door. Just then, I got a text message from Penelope. 

Did you see what happened to your ex douche? 

She texted, and I sighed with the shake of my head before responding. 

What did you do?

I asked, not really sure if I should ask, or if I would like to know. 

I looked up his name in public records and it turns out he’s been on the run since your case came up, so I tracked him down and immobilized him, then I called the cops to come get him. 

Something in my chest twinged, making my heart flutter at the idea of her missing our meeting yesterday to go track down Rafael after I told her what he was like. 

He’s like two hundred pounds of pure muscle, you’re like a hundred pounds, how did you manage that?

I asked, and watched the dots jump in a line before her message showed up again. 

I took self defense classes for three years after the thing with Lucy. I’m a weapon of mass destruction. ;)

I know it wasn’t supposed to be cute because it sounded like she could very well murder someone with her bare hands, but my mind was clouded by the fact that this girl went in and beat my attacker into submission, unaware of whether she’d actually win against him, ready to do what it took to ensure he was off the streets. 

That was beautiful. 

Thank you. 

I texted back. 

Don’t thank me ;) just consider it an act of good faith for you helping me catch Lucy’s killer. 

“Hey, Josie!” Greeted Bonnie as she rounded the corner again. “You’re okay, right? After… him and all?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I chuckled, “What happened there?” I asked, and she sighed, her hands falling on her hips as she explained it. 

“Well, we got an anonymous tip saying that they apprehended a wanted felon. They gave us the address to an old forclosed house in upstate New York where he was tied to a kitchen chair.” She hummed, “We found drugs and child pornography in the house too.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head, “Sick bastard won’t be seeing the light of day for a long time.” She said happily. “Whoever it is was really looking out for you though, they named him as your abuser.” She grinned, and I blushed. 

“Yeah, I’m really lucky to have her.” I watched her soft grin flash into a devious smirk, her hand falling to her hip knowingly as it cocked out, begging me to say something. 

“You know who it is then?” 

“I do.” I nodded simply, trying to make it seem like it was less deep than it is. 

“Okay…” she rose her brows expectantly, but I stayed silent, so she rolled her eyes before asking the question that was lingering. “Who is she?”   
“Nobody, I…” she gave me a knowing look, making me sigh, “She’s a friend. I’ve been helping her with some problems and I happened to bring him up the other day.” I explained, “This is her returning the favor.” I chuckled, but she rose her brows at me. 

“Must be a big problem if it makes her drive six hours to go beat up a cracked out, six foot tall Aries with anger issues in solidarity.” She said in disbelief. 

“I mean,” I chuckled with a shrug, “I don’t know, maybe she just has a thing with abusive people.” I excused, and she hummed. 

“She likes you, Saltzman.” She assumed, making me snort. 

“It’s not like that.” I promised. 

“Oh really? You mean to tell me someone that bold hasn’t made a move on you yet?” She asked with skepticism. 

“I didn’t say that.” I corrected, and she rose a brow. 

“Okay, now you have to tell me what’s going on between you.” She demanded, and I sighed. 

“Well, we…” I trailed off, blushing at the idea of telling someone almost old enough to be my mom about my sex adventures. “... you know.” I chuckled, scratching the back of my head as she looked at me scandalously. 

“Girl!” She said in a deep, exaggerated tone, “When!?” 

“Which time?” 

“Oh my God!” She gasped, making me turn around to hide my blush of embarrassment. “I didn’t see you as that type of person, Jo, damn!” She laughed. 

“Trust me,” I chuckled, “a few years ago I didn’t either.” I sighed before we were interrupted by the clearing of Tyler’s throat from the other side of his counter where the evidence box was sitting. 

“Your box…” He garbled, and my face grew cold as I took the box off his table to walk away with it, Bonnie following me. 

“So…” She grinned as we walked out to my car, “What’s her name?” 

“Calm down, Bonnie.” I chuckled, “It’s not gonna get that deep.” I assured. 

“It seems to me like you’ve gone plenty deep already.” She quipped, making me cringe. 

“Ew…” My face twinged with distaste, “Look, it’s just physical, okay? It works for us because we’re two completely different people, but when it comes to the physical stuff, we know exactly how it works. We don’t have to ask or read the other’s mind, and we don’t have to direct the other. It just works.” I assured, and she rose a brow. 

“And how do you know it won’t be like that if you were an item?” She asked knowingly, making me sigh as I opened my trunk to put the evidence box inside. 

“It just can’t, alright? I don’t want that with her.” I looked around for a moment before making another admission, “Besides… I’m seeing someone.” I shrugged, and her eyes widened. 

“You’re sleeping with someone while seeing someone else…” She reminded, and I groaned. 

“I’m going on a first date with her, we’ve… hung out a couple times, and I decided she’s good for me, so I asked her on a formal date for tonight.” I assured and she hummed. 

“Do I get to know her name at least? Since she’s good for you and all.” She excused, making me roll my eyes, knowing she wouldn’t leave me alone unless I said something. 

“Her name is Hope.” I grinned, making her return it. 

“So what are you gonna do tonight?” she asked, and I groaned before opening my door to get in. 

“Have a good day, Bonnie!” I shouted, making her laugh. 

“Hey, I’m just trying to fulfill my duty as your New York big sister.” She excused, putting her hands up in surrender. 

“My what?” I scoffed. 

“I mean, I was the one who helped you out when that asshole showed up on my radar. And I know you’re not sleeping on my couch anymore, but I’m still always gonna look out for you.” She assured, poking her head through the window I rolled down as I sat down and closed the door. 

“Bonnie, I’m your superior officer.” I reminded, and she rose a brow. 

“You’ll always be the nineteen year old girl who asked me to cuddle you for a week straight, Josie.” She kissed her teeth, “I hate to break it to you.” She teased. 

“I’ve got to get back to work.” I hummed, and she smiled softly before stepping back as I buckled my seatbelt. 

“Don’t break Hope’s heart, kid. It feels like that’s inevitable, but you can prevent it.” She warned, but I didn’t respond as I drove out of my spot and out of the parking lot. 

… 

After lunch, I finally had the chance to go through the files on Penelope’s thumb drive, as well as the tapes from six years ago. 

I plugged the drive into my laptop and used the old VCR and TV in the break room to watch the footage from one of the two buildings that housed the alley of the attack that night. I sat at the little table, ready to look at each frame closely as I looked at Penelope’s notes. 

They were files she had created on her own, searching for each face she could recognize on the tape. I inhaled and prepared myself to start the tape when MG walked in. 

“Hey, Jo, what are we watchin?” He asked, and I answered quickly. 

“I’m watching surveillance footage the attack on Lucy Hernandez and Penelope Park from the night Lucy was killed.” I admitted, searching through my notes for Lucy’s death, as well as the information Penelope gave me the other night and last week. 

“Wait…” He blinked for a moment before sitting beside me. “Lucy Hernandez?” He asked in confusion and I nodded. 

“Lucille Yvette Hernandez is the name her parents gave her when she came out them as transgender.” I divulged, “She didn’t have the money to get the legal transition yet, so her file still says…” I trailed off as I flipped through her file to look for her dead name, which slipped my mind due to lack of importance. “Luis Lorenzo Hernandez.” I explained, and he gritted his teeth. “What?”

“You should never use somebody’s dead name.” He warned, “It’s not cool man.” He explained, and I nodded upon realizing that despite the fact that she wasn’t alive, I had to respect her pronouns because she deserves that kind of human decency. 

“Noted.” I cleared my throat, “Anyway, I cut a deal with Penelope, and she says that she’ll give me a signed confession if I help find out who killed Lucy.” I divulged, and his eyes widened. 

“You’re in contact with her!?” He whispered loudly, making me roll my eyes. 

“Yeah..?” I trailed off before he groaned in distress and tugged on the thick, plentiful curls on his head. “Look, it’ll be fine, MG.” I assured, “She proved herself trustworthy already.” I assured, but he rose his brow in disbelief. 

“How exactly?” He asked, and I sighed. 

“She tracked down Raf for me.” I explained and his eyes went wide. 

“Damn,” he exhaled, sitting back against his chair overwhelmingly.

“I know.” 

“Well, I guess that if she doesn’t surrender, at least you put the right guy behind bars for Lucy’s murder, and Rafael is finally behind bars.” He shrugged, “Let me watch with you.” He requested and I shrugged before pushing play on the television.

The footage started at the point that Lucy and Penelope came into view. They were holding hands and laughing together. Lucy took Penelope’s hand and spun her around in a circle, making her throw her head back in laughter before they were interrupted by something off camera. Penelope’s head snapped toward the direction they were walking from and immediately, Lucy stepped in front of Penelope defensively. 

They stepped back as the objects of their attention closed in and appeared on frame. 

There were six men, one with a baseball bat, two with blades, the other three not showing weapons they had yet. Lucy muttered something before the two turned around and ran in the opposite direction, turning down a street that happened to be the alley. 

Lucy said something to Penelope as the assailants ran after them. Lucy seemed to be talking them down, her hands in front of her as she walked closer to the group of people while Penelope backed away, tears falling down her face as she watched in silence. 

Suddenly, the man in the front reached somewhere on his person before pulling a gun out and pointing it to Lucy, making Penelope hunch over, her mouth wide, eyes closed as she screamed at the top of her lungs. 

She walked slowly, fearfully towards the gunmen, according to the witness report, they forced her to walk closer, threatening her with Lucy’s life. There was talking and bickering before someone from behind pulled a gun and shot it off in the air to startle everyone back into silence. He stepped forward and held his hand out for someone to hand him their knife, trading them for the gun before yelling something and storming towards a sobbing Penelope. 

Seeing her like that, hunched over, sobbing and shaking her head as she begged for the lives of her and her beloved, it hurt me deep inside. Who could do this to these completely harmless women? It wasn’t fair, not to Penelope, and especially not to Lucy. 

He stood behind her and held the knife up to her throat, yelling something as Lucy held her arms up in surrender, her head moving as she talked to them, likely trying to coerce them into leaving Penelope alone. 

The man behind Penelope laughed and moved his knife wielding hand behind her, suddenly making Penelope lurch forward, falling on the ground in pain. 

He stabbed her. 

That was the wound by her tailbone they were talking about. It was the scar I saw when I was in her room last week.

Lucy moved to run to Penelope’s aid until someone pointed a gun to her head, making her stop, her eyes not moving from Penelope’s shaking, crumpled form. She looked to the man with the gun and started speaking again, gesturing to her pain stricken girlfriend. 

I drew the conclusion that she was begging him to let Penelope go. 

Then, Lucy took the barrel of the gun and held it to her head, her eyes leaking with tears, lips twitching as she sobbed, Penelope looking up and shaking her head, trying to stop Lucy from letting herself get hurt. She tried to stand up until the man who stabbed her kicked her in the ribs, knocking her over into a heap on the ground. 

Another one walked up with his own knife, walking around Lucy as she twitched and shook. He walked behind her, his nose barely above her shoulder as he whispered in her ear, pointing to Penelope. 

In a flash, Lucy was turned around before she punched the man in the face, sending him back a little bit before he lunged forward and stabbed her in the chest. 

Penelope screamed at the top of her lungs, standing up and stumbling towards Lucy, who turned to receive her as they both collapsed to the ground together. Lucy seemed to be caressing Penelope’s head as she cradled her while the men started yelling at each other over how messy it was getting, most likely. 

Penelope shook her head, but Lucy nodded and kissed her one last time before shoving her up to her feet, allowing Penelope to run around the group of fighting gangsters before one of the gunmen pulled out his piece and shot her once, and when she didn’t stop running, a second time, making her collapse. 

Lucy screamed again and stood up to go help her dying beloved when the man who stabbed her placed his knife against her throat. He said something before slitting her throat, making her fall to the ground as blood poured from her throat. She was too weak to move, and the man who stabbed Penelope used his knife to cut the denim of Lucy’s jeans, assessing her red boxers before looking up to the others and nodding for two others to lift her twitching body until she was on her knees. 

He said something to her before Penelope’s gunman shot her on the back of the head, leaving her and Penelope there to be found by the owner of the coffee shop on one side of the alley the next morning. 

“Shit, dude. That was horrible.” MG whispered, and I nodded, wiping tears from my eyes. 

Even to the end, when Lucy was bleeding from her chest, she was worried about Penelope being okay and getting out. Even in a life threatening situation, Lucy punched that man in the face to defend Penelope. The only thing she was worried about from the beginning of the altercation to the end was Penelope’s safety. 

At least her sacrifice wasn’t in vain, because Penelope is just fine. 

A little pathetic sometimes, but she’s alive. 

“Tell me somethin,” MG requested, making me look up at him, “did it look kinda like she was familiar with those men?” He suggested, and I rose a brow. 

“What?” 

“I mean, as soon as she saw them, she knew they were trouble, and she was talking to them like she knew them. I don’t think this was as random as the report says it was.” 

Oh my God, he was right. 

“I have to go.” 

… 

“Yeah, I knew Lucy Gonzalez.” Hummed the mechanic I was talking to from under the hood of some car. “She was actually one of my best friends.” He admitted before grabbing the wrench from the cart beside the vehicle and began putting something back on under the hood. 

“Well, I’m trying to find her killer and was wondering if I could ask you some questions when you’re free.” I asked, and he rose a brow. 

“How come nobody came to me when she died six and a half years ago man?” He queried. 

“Police got lazy and decided it wasn’t worth the effort to follow a lead for a gang incident.” I admitted. 

“You know, I never believed that gang bullshit they gave us.” He admitted as he wiped his hands and dropped the hood before leaning against it. 

“Why is that?” I asked with a risen brow. 

“Well, for one, she was a brown kid. Ain’t nobody lookin out for the brown kids in this city. Not unless they arresting us.” He explained. 

“Well,” I sighed, “They didn’t have me six years ago. I’m determined to find her killer. Her real killer.” I assured, and he rose a brow. 

“Why do you care so much?” He asked. 

“I owe it to her ex girlfriend.” I said simply, “But…” I exhaled as I thought about how close I let myself get to this case, “I don’t know, I’m just so angry about what happened to her that now, this is my case. I’m attached to it, and I refuse to let it go until I solve it.” I admitted, and he smiled sadly. 

“That’s a good answer.” He exhaled before putting the rag down and gesturing for me to follow him. “My name’s Kaleb by the way.” He admitted as we weaved between the cars in the colossal garage, “Penelope told me you might be comin. She said you’re apart of the best of the best.” He looked at me before he opened a door in the hallway, “I’m happy we get you to solve her case.” 

He turned the handle to the office door and we walked in. I noticed a little cot in the corner of the room, a desk on the other side. Kaleb went under the bed and grabbed a box before putting it on the desk and opening it.

It was a regular brown cardboard box with a lid, but its contents would change everything about this case.

“What’s this?”

“This is all of Lucy’s stuff. She lived in here back before Penelope cuffed her, and she spent a lot of time back here during breaks, writing in her little journal and stuff. She kept everything in this box.” He admitted, “Look, I gotta get back to work, but you can stay in here as long as you need, or take that stuff with you to help with the investigation.” He explained. 

“Thank you, Kaleb.” I said sincerely before he could leave, and he shrugged. 

“Thank me by finding her killer. She was like a big sister to me.” He said solemnly before walking out to go finish his work. 

I took the entire box back home with me to study further later since it was filled with potential evidence like her journal, some old pictures and a few sketch books. Something in here would have to tell me if she knew these men before that day. 

For now, however, I had to get ready for my date with Hope.

I showered and combed my hair before dressing myself in a pair of jeans and a short sleeved white button up with a yellow ascott and a matching bow, the same color shoes to tie the outfit together before I got in my car to go pick her up. 

I parked on the curb and unbuckled my belt to go get Hope when my phone rang, indicating a call from my sister. 

“Hello?” I asked, and Lizzie squealed into the phone. 

“I missed you!” 

“I missed you too.” I smiled subconsciously at hearing my sister’s voice. 

“Guess what.” She chirped. 

“What?” I hummed. 

“I’m gonna come visit you next week.” She said simply, making my jaw drop. 

“I thought they said you couldn’t fly anywhere until you were all better.” I stuttered. 

“That’s the thing, Jo, I AM all better! My physical therapist cleared me to leave the state as I please.” I could feel the excitement emanating from the other side of the phone, and it was contagious! My sister was finally well enough to come visit me, and I’ve never been so happy! 

“So that means no more wheelchair?” I asked, my voice quivering. 

“No more wheelchair!” She laughed, and I laughed back, tears making their way to my eyes. “I don’t even need the leg braces anymore!” She laughed, and felt my entire body falter in relief that she was okay after all. 

“Lizzie, I’m…” I let out a soft cry as I wiped the tears from my cheeks, “I’m so happy I wore waterproof mascara.” I joked, and she laughed. God, I missed that laugh. “Okay, w-well, just send me the flight times, and I’ll pick you up from the airport.” I laughed excitedly. 

“Of course!” She laughed, “So how’ve you been? What are you up to?” She asked, and suddenly, I remembered the news I got this morning. 

“I’m great!” I laughed, “I made this friend, and I was telling her about Raf, and she found him.” I explained. 

“You’re kidding!” She exhaled. 

“Nope. She drove all the way to upstate New York, beat him up, tied him to a chair, and called Detective Bennett.” I said simply. 

“Josie, that’s great! I should tell moms.” She suggested. 

“You should. But wait until we’re of the phone, please.” I pleaded. 

“Why? Is something wrong?” She asked with concern in her voice, and I smiled at the way her voice washed over with complete worry when she thought I was in trouble. 

“No, not at all. I just miss them, and I’m about to pick someone up for a date. I don’t want to look like I’d been crying right before the date, she might think something is wrong with me.” I laughed. 

“Wait…” She trailed, “Not only are you making friends, but you’re dating too?” She laughed, “Or is your new friend the one you’re dating?” She asked, and I rolled my eyes at her prying. 

“No, actually, the girl I’m dating is my friend’s roommate.” I laughed before recalling Kaleb and how kind he seemed, how he cared about his friends so deeply. “They’re good people to be around.” I hummed to myself. 

“Well, we can catch up more when I see you next week, okay? You have fun on your date, alright?” She asked, and I smiled. 

“Okay. I love you.” 

“Love you too.” She said before hanging up, and as soon as I moved to put my phone away, there was a knock on the glass of my window, startling me. I turned to see two green eyes looking at me with a smile through the glass with a wave. I rolled down the window to talk to Penelope. 

“Who were you talking to?” She asked, “You’re not cheating on Hope and I, are you?” She teased, making me roll my eyes. 

“Don’t worry about it.” I assured. 

“Well, I told Hope you were down here, so she’ll be down any minute.” She assured. “Anyway, how did you like my little gift this morning?” She asked, and I sighed. 

“I loved it, thank you so much for that, Penelope.” 

“Hey, you’ve been helping me out. I take care of the people who take care of me. Besides, it’s one less scumbag on the streets.” She shrugged nonchalantly as she leaned against the frame of my car to look at me better. 

“Yeah, but you drove six hours to beat up a hulk of a guy. That’s so much more than me just reading and asking questions.” I chuckled, and she clicked her tongue.

“You’re using your trained brain to help a minority victim get justice. That’s more than anything I could ever do with my fists.” She assured, and I smiled. 

“I found out that Lucy knew the men who attacked you.” I admitted, and she rose a brow. “Yeah, and I got ahold of some of her old journals and stuff, so I’ll be looking into those tonight after my thing with Hope.” I explained. 

“You’ve been working on this case a few days and you already know more than an entire team learned in six years. Well done, and don’t worry about working tonight. Show Hope a good time.” She insisted before gesturing with her head toward the door of the building where Hope was standing, a bashful smile on her face as she looked under the roof of my car to look at me. 

“A yellow Volkswagen beetle?” Hope giggled as she looked at my car, “This is very… you.” 

I grinned before getting out of my car to greet the woman who stood there, clad in a beautiful green dress that flowed down her body, a waterfall that trickled down the rapids of her beautiful stream of a torso, splitting between her mounds like hills that made reservoirs. Reservoirs that make me thirsty just looking at them. 

“Y-you look…” I trailed off, unable to form words as I looked into her especially bright eyes. 

“Stunning, clearly.” Giggled Penelope, pointing out my very stunned expression. 

“Yeah.” 

“I like yellow on you.” Hope giggles as her eyes trailed down my body. 

“I’ll let you two get to your date.” Penelope winked before walking inside the building. 

“Shall we?” I grinned as I opened the door for her to get in the front seat, but before she got in, she stopped, pulling me back up to the sidewalk. 

“Can I kiss you first?” She asked, looking up between my eyes, and I felt myself nodding without speaking, or even thinking before my lips were on hers. 

I couldn’t help but compare this kiss to the one I shared with Penelope. The several I shared with Penelope. 

This was soft, and tender. Hope was’s fingers toyed with the hairs on the nape of my neck as her tongue caressed mine, so soft that it almost made me cry, feeling so cared for, so cherished, just in a kiss. 

I pulled away, and she ran her tongue over her bottom lip before chuckling and wiping the lipgloss off of my mouth with her thumb. I smiled at her bright eyes before leaning down to kiss her deeply one last time. She pulled away, her teeth tugging my lip out gently. 

“Now we can get going.” She smirked before sitting in my car. I grinned and leaned through the window of my car to linger in front of her as I closed the door, kissing her cheek before rounding the car and getting in. 

… 

“Mm, I never knew you could cook like this.” Hope moaned around the pepper in her mouth, and I chuckled before shrugging and eating my beans. 

“To be fair, you didn’t know much about me.” I hummed, and she winked at me. 

“Like the fact that you’re a vegan?” She hummed, and I shrugged. 

“That wasn’t really what I was talking about.” I laughed. 

“Well, tell me what you want me to know, and I’ll tell you what I want you to know.” She suggested, and I nodded before setting my empty bowl down on the table in front of the patio swing from where we sat on the roof of my apartment building, old christmas lights hanging from the top of the swing, plastic candles sitting around on the edge of the building, and the table. 

“Hmm… let’s see.” I trailed off as I thought about what I wanted her to know, “I guess the biggest thing that surprises people is that I have a twin sister.” I hummed, and her eyes widened. 

“No way! There are two of you?” She asked with wonder, and I shrugged, delighted that she could learn something about someone who, unknowingly, was so mysterious.

“Well,” I chuckled, “not exactly, she’s taller than me, and blonde, and she has blue eyes. We’re fraternal twins.” I chimed before tucking my feet out from under me and pulling the blanket from my lap to around my arms when a chilly gust of wind hit me. “She’s supposed to come visit next week for the first time since I moved out of my ex boyfriend’s old place.” I uncovered. 

“Why has it been so long?” She asked with concern, and I shrugged. 

“I’ve just been so busy with work, I haven’t had time for company.” I lied. 

“Speaking of work,” Hope grinned, taking the last drink of her wine before placing it and her bowl on the table before pulling the blanket up to her arms as well, “Penelope told me you’re helping her with the Lucy case.” She said softly, her eyes just as soft as she gave me a smile, a genuine, soft, sweet smile that made my heart flutter. “That’s really nice of you. She deserves justice.” 

“Yeah,” I sighed, “she seemed like a really great person.” I observed. 

“Oh, man, she was the best!” She laughed, “She was my best friend growing up. I was the captain of GSA in high school, that’s how we met. She came out to me Junior year and I was with her through coming out, transitioning, and the whole UCLA fiasco.” She admitted, looking down at her fingers for a moment.

“Really?” I asked, not having known that before. 

“Yeah!” She laughed, “That’s how I know Penelope. She helped me through some dark stuff when my dad died, and then later, when my mom died. 

“How did that happen?” I asked, and she gave me a neutral look before answering.

“Well,” she chuckled, “my dad was in a car accident when I was sixteen.” She divulged, “My mom had cancer, died about a year before Lucy did.” She wiped a tear from her eye and I sat up a little to look at her. “Her death was really hard for me,” she laughed, “At the funeral, I kept looking up next to me, hoping I’d see her looking back at me…” She trailed off before wiping her tears from her eyes. “But then I remembered that she wasn’t gonna be there to make it all better anymore.” Her voice was weak at the last sentence, and I felt my own tears make their way to my eyes before opening my arms for her to crawl across the swing to lay against me. 

I felt her take my hand and watched as she toyed with my fingers between hers, her teary blue eyes watching as she looked at our hands, placing hers flat against mine. She assessed the size difference, how her fingertips just barely passed the top lines of my knuckles, and I closed my hand around hers before moving our conjoined hands up to kiss the back of hers. 

“I wish I could’ve met her.” I admitted, and she shook her head against my chest. 

“No, you don’t.” She assured, “If you met her, you’d be just as fucked up as Penelope and I.” 

“Trust me,” I chuckled, “I’m plenty fucked up already.” 

… 

“Mm,” Hope moaned against my shoulder blade from behind me, her arms wrapping around my waist as she planted kisses on my bare back while I made waffles and coffee. “How did I managed to fall asleep before you, and wake up after you?” She laughed, and I shrugged. 

“I mean, you did expend a lot of energy last night.” I winked, and I felt her smirk against my back before she flattened her hands against my stomach and moved them up to my breasts, making my nipples stand to attention as I moved the last waffle from the iron to the plate and unplugged the griddle.

“Let’s resume?” Hope suggested, and I giggled before turning around in Hope’s arms. 

“We both have work.” I reminded, and she frowned. 

“Are you telling me no?” She asked, her tone playful, and I rose a brow.

“I’m telling you that we have to be quick.” I husked, and I watched her lips quirk up. 

“That isn’t a problem at all.” She assured before turning and shoving me against the counter, hoisting me up and opening my bare legs with her hands on my knees. I rested my head against the cabinet and waited with my eyes closed, allowing myself just to feel Hope’s fingernails as they scraped against my inner thighs, when she caught me off guard by lining her tongue on my sex and licking up through my folds with a rapidness that made my thighs tremble against her immediately. 

She gripped the flesh of my thighs roughly before flicking my clit with her tongue quickly, obviously eager to make me fall over the edge as quickly as she could. She moved back down to my hot, quivering sex, delving her tongue in my wetness to spread it before delving a finger inside of me, pumping in time with each circle of her tongue on my clit, my body shaking as I gasped and moaned on my counter, sweat trickling down the valley of my breasts as I heaved and groaned at the way her fingers pumped inside of my quivering walls relentlessly until suddenly, my body came unhinged, and I fell back against the cupboard to stop my twitching body. 

“Oh,” I exhaled loudly, and she smirked up at me from where she was, her tongue lapping up my juices before pulling away and helping me down. 

Once I was down, she turned around to grab the plate and handed it me as though she wasn’t just tongue deep inside of me just a literal second ago.


	7. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: mentions of abuse and insinuations of mental illness.

I spent all day searching for the men who were in the surveillance video in every database across the country and I didn’t get anywhere, so I asked our tech guy, Matt, to rerun the prints on the gun that was left behind in the alley, which would take a day or two. I also noticed there was dna found under Lucy’s fingerprints and asked him to run that as well, just in case the last six years took a toll on our men and they were arrested between now and then. 

I decided to crack into the journals from Lucy’s box now. 

One was just a red spiral notebook with little doodles on it, the cover was worn down and the spirals were falling apart from use. I opened it and noticed the incredibly messy handwriting scrawled across the page messily. Most of them weren’t dated or anything, they just had a beginning and an end. They didn’t even all seem like journal entries, some were poems or song lyrics, some were lists, some were entries and some were just ideas it seemed like she wanted to get down. 

The first one was a poem. 

I escape to a world where magic exists when I’m with you because you make me feel like I can fly.  
I hold you in my arms so tightly because I’m afraid that if I drop you, you’ll never let me hold you again.  
I kiss you every day like it’s the last kiss I’ll ever give you because someday, you’ll realize you’re better than me.   
I accept that because at least I had the time I did with you.   
I escape with you while I still can, before you leave me for good.

Wow. 

She had a way with words. 

And the fact that she felt this way about Penelope makes my heart break. 

She didn’t even realized how much Penelope loved her. So much so that she was willing to kill people for her. 

I mean, sure, she could’ve written this about someone else, but this just felt like a feeling Penelope would unknowingly give someone. And I know the vanilla smell, I’ve smelt that smell so many times that it’s permanently stuck in my brain. 

I would never forget that smell. 

I briefly wondered if Penelope knew about her lover’s talent before shrugging it off that nobody so talented would hide this from their muse. 

I flipped through the pages before making it to the last marked up page, looking at the shopping list with a soft exhale. 

It was normal, as far as I could tell. 

Oil filters  
Wiper fluid  
Coffee   
Kale  
Tomatoes  
Spinach  
Cucumbers

This obviously meant she was working on a car and making a salad.

Simple enough. But I had to read each one to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary. 

“Hey Jo, how are you this morning?” Asked MG as he laid his hand on my shoulder from behind my desk. 

“I'm alright, my date last night was great.” I grinned softly in memory of my night with Hope. 

“Yeah?” He grinned as he sat in his usual spot on my desk. 

“Yeah, we had a rooftop dinner and wine and we slept under the stars, and then this morning we had breakfast before I took her home on my way to work.” I explained, making him raise a brow. 

“Is breakfast code for something?” He asked suspiciously to which I rolled my eyes. 

“No.” I said simply before thinking about it, “... But she definitely had a two course meal.” 

“Oh, God, Jo!” He exclaimed dramatically, his face twinging in disgust. 

“You asked.” I shrugged. 

“I regret it!” He complained, making me giggle before turning the page in Lucy's journal. “Anyway…” He sighed after calming down, “Are we still on for the gym tonight?” He inquired, and I nodded.

“Do you mind if I invite Penelope?” I asked, and he rose a brow. 

“Now you're introducing her to your friends?” He asked, skeptical about my judgement. 

“It's not like that.” I assured, making him roll his eyes. 

“I'm sure it's not, Josie.” 

“I swear!” I assured, “I just wanna see what she can do, in case she tries to fight my advances at arresting her.” I lied, and he rolled his eyes. 

“Alright, whatever.” He said with distaste, and I grinned up at my friend. 

“You're the best, you know that?” 

He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes before getting off the desk to go to his own. 

“Yeah, I know.” 

… 

“Isn't she supposed to be here by now?” Asked MG with bated breath as he dodged my punch toward his face, and I shrugged. 

“She likes to make an entrance.” I excused, jumping out of the way before he could kick me in the stomach. 

“I already don't like her.” He complained as I threw a punch at him, catching him in the stomach. 

“Give it five minutes, you will.” I exhaled heavily as the door to the gym opened, catching my attention immediately. 

She walked in with a gym bag on her shoulder, clad in sweat pants and a sports bra. 

“Don't you look beautiful.” Jested Penelope before placing her bag on the bench beside the boxing ring and pulling out a pair of sparring gloves. 

“That's her?” Hissed MG over my shoulder, and I nodded, not taking my eyes off of the woman as she got ready. “She's gorgeous!” He whispered. 

“Thanks.” Penelope threw over her shoulder, catching MG off guard. She smirked and turned to look MG over once. “I guess Josie likes to surround herself with people aesthetically infection to her though.” She observed, “To varying degrees.” 

“Did she just call me ugly?” He asked over my shoulder, and I just shrugged. 

“Alright, let's get started.” She said as she began stretching her arms, making her way into the boxing ring. “How about you and I go first?” She asked, looking MG in the eyes. 

“What is she, five-foot-three? A hundred and forty pounds?” He scoffed, “I can take her.” He assured, rolling his head from side to side as he approached her. 

She smirked over his shoulder at me before winking. 

“Go easy on me, officer.” She begged, her eyes pleading, and his shoulders softened before he shrugged. 

“I guess I can-” he was cute off by a jab to his stomach, making him groan before catching her second punch. She crossed him with a left hook to the jaw before kicking her heel into the back of his knee, causing him to collapse to the ground. 

“I don't think you went very easy on me.” Penelope complained, walking around the man as he groaned, her hands behind her back as she smirked. 

“I don't think you gave him a chance to go easy on him.” I laughed before helping my friend up from the ground. “You alright?” I asked. 

“Yeah, it's just my ego.” 

I laughed before helping him to the bench outside of the ring. 

“You and I now?” Asked Penelope, a sly smirk on her lips as she adjusted the straps on her gloves. 

“Do it.” He demanded, making me smirk before climbing back into the ring to fight Penelope. She rose a brow at me challengingly, and I bit my lip before awaiting her first move. 

We walked around the ring for a moment before she began to speak to me. 

“I like this look on you,” she admitted, her eyes raking over my sweaty tank top. “All dishevelled and out of breath.” She smirked at me once more, “Reminds me of the last time I saw you like this.” She said, thinking she had caught me off guard before she threw a punch at my face, which was dodged. I lifted my foot and caught her stomach once, making her grunt before another smirk drew itself across her face. 

I threw a punch, and she caught my wrist before pulling me close to her face, her breath on my chin as her green eyes poured into my skull until I felt intoxicated by her scent, my eyes falling to hoods, my body helpless to her natural sexual prowess. She kissed my cheek teasingly before punching me in the stomach with her free hand, making me double over. 

“C’mon, Jojo, don’t be afraid to hurt me, I won’t break.” She winked, and I looked up with a new goal, my jaw clenched as I charged at her, my foot coming up in the air to catch her chest. She fell back into the ropes of the ring, holding her chest before smirking at me. “That’s more like it.” She complimented before running up and throwing a punch to my face, which I dodged before throwing my own, only for her to duck in time for it to be avoided. 

It was like a game of ping pong, punches and kicks being thrown and deflected in a steady rhythm that almost made it feel like a dance as our feet moved us around the mat to the rhythm of the punches thrown. My chest was heaving and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as sweat dripped down the end of my nose, my back muscles tensing and growing sore as she lunged forward with each hit, forcing me to lunge backwards. 

Finally, I broke the rhythm by throwing a second punch at her face right after my right fist went, catching her in the right cheek. She was caught off guard and stepped back, allowing me to slip my foot behind hers, making her fall back onto the mat. I looked down at her as she looked up, a proud grin on her face as she rested on her elbows. 

I smirked before putting out a hand to help her up, only for her to pull my back, over her head onto the ground. I immediately rolled over and stalked toward her on my hands and knees, ready to wrestle her when she pounced on me, making us roll around until I was on top of her, my hands pinning her arms to the mat below her, my face inches from hers, our heaving chests against each other. 

“I like it when you get all worked up.” She smirked, making me roll my eyes and get off of her. 

“Damn.” MG said wondrously, his jaw slack as he followed me toward the punching bags. 

… 

“That was a lot of fun.” Penelope grinned from over the brim of her glass of orange juice. 

“Yeah,” I chuckled, “you knew what you were doing in there.” I commended, and she shrugged. 

“You did too, obviously.” She returned, and I shrugged back. 

“It’s my job to know how to protect myself.” I waved off. 

“You don’t like feeling helpless.” She predicted as I took a bite of my grilled vegetables, making me raise a brow. “I mean, I could tell, you weren’t so much worried about winning as you were about not looking helpless. You just wanted to put up a good enough fight to where you knew I wouldn’t pity you, or victimize you.” She read. 

“It’s a bad habit of mine, not letting myself be vulnerable.” I admitted, and she shrugged. 

“Yeah, I get that. Trust me,” She chuckled, “I get that all too well.” It was silent as she dragged her fork around the syrup of her pancakes before looking up at me again, “It’s just… you don’t have to be afraid of being vulnerable around me, you know that, right?” She asked, making me scoff. 

“I’m the detective investigating you for murder and robbery, Penelope. I’d say that means I shouldn’t be telling you all of my life problems.” I assured, and she rolled her eyes. 

“C’mon, you and I both know that this is so much deeper than just you investigating me and helping me.” She pointed out, “You don’t hate me.” She predicted. “You wish you could hate me, but you can’t because deep down, you know I’m just a product of the fucked up shit that happened to me.” She assured, and I sighed before pulling my wallet from my pocket to pay for our dinner. 

“Yeah, well it doesn’t matter why you did it, what matters is that you commited crimes that need to be answered for.” I guarded. 

“You mean to tell me that you never thought you’d kill someone?” She asked, and I looked to the side, “Look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t wish Rafael was dead.” She demanded.

“I don’t want to talk about this…” I trailed off before dropping the money on the table and standing up. 

“You don’t want to, but not talking about it is eating away at you, I can see it in your eyes.” She predicted, making me roll my eyes before walking toward the door, but before I could make it out, she shouted something at me that set me off. “It was the same look you got when you talked about your sister.” 

I stopped dead in my tracks before turning on my heel and hunching over the table to get in her face. 

“You don’t know anything about me, you don’t know anything about Lizzie, so keep her out of your mouth.” I growled, and she rose a brow. 

“Lizzie is a really pretty name.” She said softly, and I snarled. 

“Fuck you, Penelope.” I spat before storming out. 

I stomped down the street, enraged at Penelope and her idiotic attempts at opening me up to use my weaknesses against me later on. How dare she bring Lizzie into this? How dare she try and make me feel belittled because of my abuse? How dare she manipulate me with sex and feelings and-

“Josie, wait!” I was brought out of my thoughts by the very object of my emotions chasing after me from behind, shouting at me. “Josie!” She shouted, but I ignored her. “Josie!” She called again, but I clenched my jaw, determined to keep ignoring her. “Agent Saltzman!” 

“What the fuck do you want?” I screamed, spinning on my heel again, and she was holding my wallet in the air, a smirk on her annoying face as she stood about ten feet away from me. I rolled my eyes before holding my hand out for her to bring it to me, and she shook her head at me, her eyes telling me that I would have to go over there and get it from her. I groaned before stomping over and moving to snatch it from her, but she had a tight grip on it and my fingers just slipped around it. I moved to grab it again, but she used her other hand to snatch my wrist into a firm grip. 

“I understand that you’re upset.” She snarled, “But if you think, even for a second that I tolerate being disrespected and humiliated, then you are drastically mistaken.” Green eyes were filled with warning, and I couldn’t help but be painfully aware of her closeness, and how masochistic I could be at times. 

Penelope noticed this immediately, the flash of darkness in her eyes indicating it. 

“Of course this turns you on.” She scoffed before shoving me against the wall of the shop we were standing in front of, her strength painfully apparent in the way she took the air from my lungs with how hard she pushed me. “Your emotions are important to me, believe it or not.” She barked, “Because without your emotions stable, you won’t be able to do your job. Other than that, you’re nothing to me! Got it?” She asked, and I nodded desperately, and she let me go before moving to walk away, throwing my wallet at me, making me whimper. 

I really was masochistic, wasn’t I? 

“Please,” I whimpered, stopping her in her tracks, making her turn to face me with a look of disdain on her look. “Please…” I repeated, and she looked at me as though she was figuring something out. 

“You need help.” Penelope spat, making my heart break. “Josie, you aren’t okay, and you’re not willing to admit it. You have this… this... crippling inferiority complex, and it’s pathetic.” She said lastly before finally storming away, leaving me alone. 

… 

I didn’t know what it was, why I reacted the way I did, why I felt so turned on by the imminent danger that was presented to me when Penelope seemed like she was going to hurt me. It didn’t make sense for so many reasons. 

One reason was that I spent so many years being abused by Rafael, so why would I react to it this way?

Did I like the abuse? Is that why it took me so long to do something about it? Was it secretly something I took solace in? 

Or is it that I had become so accustomed to the abuse that Penelope’s violent outburst made me feel subconsciously reminiscent of the abuse? Maybe it tapped into the feeling I got during the reconciliation parts of the abuse, when Raf and I would have make up sex, and it was often some of the best sex I had ever experienced with him. 

Another important question was why I was so defensive when she brought up my emotions, and my past with Rafael. 

Of course I wish Rafael was dead. What he did to me was awful. 

It wasn’t right. 

And because of him, I wasn’t right. 

Because of him, I have this… crippling inferiority complex. 

It’s been affecting me since I was with him. 

Penelope was right, I needed help.


	8. Sept

“It sounds like you’ve been under a lot of stress over the last couple months, Josette.” Observed my therapist from her stark white chair across from me, her leg crossed over her other, hands crossed over her knees in that stereotypical way that therapists sit. “I think it’s fair that you’re having concerns with your mental health, and I’m very proud of you for coming here today.” She smiled, her bright teeth showing between her lips, making me feel at ease. 

“I need you to fix me.” I pleaded desperately, making her give me a seriously concerned look before answering me in that very therapist way. 

“You’re not broken. There’s nothing that can be fixed. Only things that can be improved upon.” She reminded me, and I sighed. 

“Well, I need you to help me improve myself.” I said with an uncharacteristically rude tone. 

“This will take time, Josette.” She warned, “This isn’t something that can work overnight, you have to put the work into yourself in order to become a better version of yourself.” 

“I know.” I exhaled, “I’m willing to work for it.” 

“Okay, well, start by telling me the first problem you’re facing. The one that affects your mental health the most.” 

“I’m so messed up that the criminal thinks that I’m messed up.” 

… 

“You gonna tell me where we’re going or am I just gonna let you drag me into adventures all the time now?” MG asked of me from the front seat of my car as we pulled into the airport parking lot. 

“I’m picking my sister up from the airport.” I explained, “I want you to be here because I want someone to be with her at all times but I don’t want her to know that I’m worried about her.” I admitted to him before parking and taking my seatbelt off.

“What?” He asked in shock, making me blink at him in confusion. 

“What part didn’t you understand?” 

“Well, I didn’t know you had a sister and we’ve been friends for two years.” He gawked, “I swear, I’ve learned more about you in the last three months than I have over the entire duration of our friendship.” 

“Is that right?” I harrumphed, and he rose a brow with a nod. 

“What else should I know about you that I don’t?” He asked, and immediately, I admitted. 

“I’m a gemini.” I shrugged, and MG’s hands came up to rub his face in distress. 

“I thought your birthday was in November!” He complained, “Gemini is the worst sign!” He complained, and I added to it. 

“And my sister is my twin, and we were raised by two women whose names are Caroline and Josette, yes, Josette as in my name, Josette and not Josephine like everyone thinks of me.” I droned, “I don’t want Lizzie to think that I’m okay with getting close to people and I want you to help me make her think that I’m not having emotional turmoil.” 

“Wait…” He stuttered, looking down at his shaky hands before looking at me with an overwhelmed look on his face, “emotional turmoil?” He scoffed, “How did I not know about that? You could’ve talked to me.” He scolded, and I shrugged. 

“Look, it isn’t like that.” I promised before opening the door and walking toward the doors, MG following suit. “It’s stuff that has to do with the case. It’s getting in my head and that’s why I need some time with my sister. I just want you to help me get her settled on her first night in New York.” I begged, and he sighed. 

“Fine.” He relented before changing the subject slightly. “So tell me, how did you kick Penelope’s ass last week when I usually beat you?” He asked, and I shrugged. 

“Let’s just say that I like to help boost your ego.” I teased, and he gave me a look of offense as we walked up to the terminal Lizzie told me she was in. 

“Nah, no fair! I want a rematch where you don’t go easy on me!” he demanded. 

“Be careful what you wish for.” I chuckled as we looked toward the exiting terminal when I finally saw who I was looking for. “There she is!” I gasped, causing him to look around, despite her being the only girl around my age in the area. 

“Where?” He asked as I picked up to run toward my sister and hug her after so long of not seeing her. 

“Josie!” She gasped, dropping her bags before running toward me, her body colliding with mine as we hugged tightly. I didn’t want to let her go. I didn’t want her to leave me again, even though she had just come. She pulled me at arm’s length and looked me in the eyes, then down at my form for a moment. “You’re shorter than I remember.” She teased, and I rolled my eyes. 

“Well you’re taller than I remember.” I tossed back. 

“This is your twin sister?” MG asked in disbelief as he approached. 

“Uh…” I chuckled, “yeah, we’re fraternal, I told you.” I lied, and he chuckled. 

“Oh yeah. I’m MG, Josie’s friend.” He offered along with his hand to shake hers. Familiar blue eyes flashing up to the man. 

“MG works with me.” I chimed, and she looked at him in realization. 

“Agent Greasy!” She recalled, and I noticed his eyes flash with embarrassment. 

“I-it’s Greasley.” He sputtered as he shook her hand finally. 

“Yeah!” She laughed, “Josie’s told me so much about you!” She chuckled, and he looked at me with a look of shock. 

“She does?” He muttered, touched. 

“Yeah! She loves you!” She divulged, making me desperate to change the subject. 

“Let’s go get something for dinner before we head back home.” I suggested, grabbing Lizzie’s bags so we could all go to the car. 

We went to this place nearby, a restaurant I remembered Hope was telling me about just a few blocks away from the airport called Freya’s. 

“Welcome to Freya’s.” The host said kindly, “Right this way.” He guided us to the back of the well-lit restaurant near the corner, allowing us to slide into a booth, me beside my sister, across from MG. “Your waitress will be here in just a moment.” 

While we waited, we looked at the menus on the tables, MG starting a conversation. 

“So, Lizzie, what do you do for a living?” He inquired, to which she looked at me with a rose brow. 

“Uh…” she chuckled before looking to him again, “Actually, I wanted to tell Josie that while I was up here.” She caught my attention, allowing me to turn to look at her. “One of the reasons I’m up here is because I have an interview with this owner of a New York City law firm who wants to hire me!” she exclaimed, making my jaw drop in disbelief. 

“Th-that’s amazing!” I laughed, wrapping my arms around my sister in a tight hug as I celebrated the joy I felt for my sister. 

“Hello, I’m Hope, and I’ll be your waitress this evening.” Sounded a familiar voice from behind Lizzie, making me open my eyes while in my hug to see Hope looking right at me. 

Right… she was talking about Freya’s because it was her aunt’s new restaurant.

She really did have a lot of different jobs.

“Hey, Hope!” I grinned at the beautiful waitress, making her eyes change to something I couldn’t read before she and Lizzie made eye contact. 

“Hey.” She smiled a soft, kind, warm smile at me, making my chest flutter. 

“Lizzie, this is Hope, my…” 

“Josie’s giiiirrlllfriend.” MG teased, making me roll my eyes before setting them on Hope, who was blushing. 

“This is the date you were telling me about last week?” Lizzie asked in disbelief before looking up to Hope, who rose a brow. 

“You talk about me?” She asked, her cheeks quirked up in a harsh grin. 

“That’s what I said!” MG chimed. 

“Well, Lizzie, it’s nice to meet you.” Hope grinned. 

“Uh, this is my partner from the bar the night I met you.” I gestured, and she waved at him kindly.

“MG, right?” She asked with a chuckle, and the man nodded. “What can I get you guys?” She asked, holding her pen to the notepad in her hand to write everything down as we ordered. 

MG ordered steak, Lizzie ordered shrimp alfredo, and I didn’t need to order before Hope said my order out loud while writing it, not even looking up at me for confirmation. 

“Tomato basil pesto penne with an extra side of basil, and a caesar salad, no chicken.” She grinned, making me raise a brow. 

“How did you know that?”

“I know you.” She winked before moving to walk away. “I’ll have your drinks to you in a moment.” She grinned, walking away while still looking over her shoulder at me. 

“Oh wow.” Lizzie laughed, “I didn’t know you guys were serious.” She teased, making me roll my eyes. 

“We’re not.” I assured. 

“She already knew your order, Josie.” She reminded. 

“Yeah, because I was telling her about it the other night.” I brushed off, and blue eyes widened at me. 

“You’re already spending the night before? It has to be serious!” She yipped, and MG scoffed. 

“Girl, please, she been got up in there before she even knew her name.” He exposed, making me step on his foot, exuding a subtle groan from his gritted teeth. 

“What?!” She hissed, and I blushed, dropping my face in my hands in pure embarrassment. I suddenly regretted bringing MG along this trip with me. 

After dinner, I went to the restroom before we headed out and while I was washing my hands, Hope walked in and grinned up at me. 

“You talked about me to your sister?” She asked, and I smirked down at her with a nod. 

“Well, she called me while I was waiting for you outside of your apartment last week.” I justified, “and I casually brought you up yesterday when we were on the phone.” I shrugged, and she pulled me in, stepping on the tips of her toes to kiss me. She wrapped her fingers in my hair and entered my mouth with her tongue, stroking the roof of my mouth for a moment before pulling away. 

“I’ll see you next week then?” She hummed, her breath on my chin. 

“I’ll be by the cafe tomorrow for my usual, so I’ll see you before next week, of course.” I offered, and she grinned, just in time for a customer to walk in. Hope stepped away from me to wash her hands. 

“Have a nice night, Detective Saltzman.” She said formally as the woman walked into the stall. I smirked and walked up to whisper into her ear. 

“Special Agent Saltzman to you.” 

“Mm, yes ma’am.” 

… 

“MG seems nice.” Lizzie offered from where she sat on the swing on the roof over the brim of her green tea. 

“Yeah, he can be a lot sometimes, but I trust him with my life.” I chimed. 

“And Hope is…” She trailed off for a moment. 

“Be honest.” I demanded. 

“Not your type.” She admitted, making me raise a brow. 

“Are you calling her ugly?” I scoffed, and Lizzie reeled back in shock that I’d think of such a thing. 

“No!” She scoffed, “She’s definitely my type, I mean, look at her!” She laughed before clearing her throat and explaining herself. “What I mean is that you’re attracted to hard people. Strong and emotionally unavailable people. She looks strong, but not in the way you’re used to.” She observed. 

“Maybe it’s good for me. Someone who isn’t going to break my ribs or punch me in the face again.” I excused, and she rose a brow. 

“Josie, are you okay?” She asked, genuine concern in her voice. “You’re not yourself.” 

“I don’t think I’ll ever be myself again.” I admitted, looking up at the pitch black sky, watching the miniscule spots twinkle in the night. 

“Look,” Lizzie sighed, “I don’t blame you for what happened last year, and you shouldn’t either. Rafael is gone, you said it yourself. He’s been caught thanks to your friend. You’re safe to be vulnerable again.” She reached for my hand to hold in hers. “You’re free to tell people about me, and about what happened. You’re free to be my silly, bashful little sister who believes in love and the magic of true love again.” She tried, and I shook my head before taking a drink of my wine. 

“I don’t believe in love anymore.” I admitted. 

“Josie, you’re only twenty five.” She chuckled with the shake of her head, “you have so much time to find love. You can’t just give up so soon.” She tried. 

“Yeah, well the last person I fell in love with killed my only sister, so…” I sighed sadly, and she sighed. 

“Josie, this isn’t healthy.” She scolded, “I mean, I was the one who was stuck in that bed for all that time, and somehow, I think I’m better off than you right now.” She admitted, and I shrugged. 

“I’m seeing a therapist.” I admitted. 

“That’s something.” She said with a hopeful tone, and I chuckled. 

“Yeah… something is right.” I said sadly, and she rolled her eyes before standing up and pulling me to the exit, down the halls and elevators to my apartment. 

She put our glasses in the sink and told me to follow her to my room, folding my blankets and setting them on the little chair in the corner of the room before crawling into the left side of the bed, waiting for me to lay with her like we used to. I rolled my eyes before removing my slippers and crawling in beside my older sister. 

She moved her right hand over the blanket, palm up for me to take. She wrapped her hand around mine and pulled our hands up so she could kiss my hand softly. 

“Remember when mom and dad used to fight before mama came into the picture?” Lizzie spoke up suddenly, and I nodded. “Remember when we used to lock ourselves in our room, and climb under the blankets in your bed, and you’d sing to me to drown out the yelling?” 

“And you used to hold my head and run your hands through my hair to keep me calm.” I recalled, and she grinned before opening her arm, allowing me to crawl into her side and lay on her shoulder while she ran her fingers through my hair, making me exhale, my stiff body relaxing to the point that I didn’t recognize the feeling anymore. 

“Now, instead of singing, I want you to tell me what’s going on. Don’t spare any details. Don’t lie to me, and remember; I’m here to help, to make you feel better, not to judge you or make you feel bad.” She promised, and I exhaled before beginning. 

I told her everything. From the moment I met Penelope, to the sex, to when I met Hope, and even when I had sex with Penelope in her room above the club. She listened, and she didn’t say anything in between, other than asking minor questions to make sense of things. 

“She doesn’t sound like she’s dangerous, Josie.” She admitted, “It actually sounds like she really cares about you.” She observed, “You should worry less about seeing her as a criminal, and more as an ally, a real friend even.” She suggested, her fingers still not relenting their movements against my scalp. 

“What if she hurts me like Raf did?” I asked, and Lizzie clicked her tongue. 

“You kicked her ass last week, Jojo. You are so much more capable than you give yourself credit for. Besides, it sounds to me like Penelope’s only motivations here involve you and Lucy.” She hummed. 

“Well, what about Hope?” I inquired, and Lizzie just gave me another shrug. 

“A beautiful person is probably gonna get hurt.” She admitted to me truthfully, “But at least it’s now, before she’s had a chance to fall in love with you.” 

“Can’t you just,” I trailed off with a shrug, “make her fall in love with you instead?” I complained, making her roll her eyes. 

“I can’t do that.” She chuckled with the shake of her head. 

“Why not?” I complained, and she rolled her eyes. 

“You’ve had sex with her. That’s like… second hand incest.” She justified, to which I rolled my eyes. 

“It’s not even close to incest.” I assured, “She’s great anyway. If you were to be with anyone anytime soon, I’d trust her to treat you right.” I admitted, and she giggled.

“That says a lot, coming from my cop sister.” She observed, “That must be why you like her. You wish you could love her because she’s safe. She won’t hurt you, not physically, and if she ever broke your heart, she’d never forgive herself.” 

“Ugh,” I groaned, “why didn’t you just become a therapist?” I complained, and she giggled again. 

“Because it’s so much more fun getting paid to argue with people.” 

… 

I didn’t go to see Hope the next morning, I was too nervous. I decided to get my coffee at the place by the precinct, which tasted like tar. The day consisted of the same things it had for the week since Penelope and I had last spoken: me reviewing the Lucille Gonzalez case. 

It felt like I hit a wall. I’ve been reviewing everything over and over again, going over the same tapes, the same evidence, rereading the witness statements and looking through the pages of that stupid journal again. 

I haven’t made any progress in the last week, and I was feeling exceptionally hopeless today. 

I groaned and slammed the notebook onto my desk, causing it to fall to the floor. I groaned and moved to pick it up, noticing something in the spirals of the journal. 

It was a small scrap of paper falling from the spine, ridges in it, indicating that a page was torn out. 

Interesting. I flipped to the page where the piece was sticking out, inspecting the page closely, noticing indentations on the paper that would’ve been below the paper.

I grabbed a pencil and dragged the graphite along the paper, pencil sideways so I didn’t create any contradicting page indents as I covered the page to show the indentations from the writing of the page before. 

It was another list. 

Worn down breaks  
Broken glass  
Busted suspension  
Broken shocks

The next two really threw me off.

Handgun  
Drugs

I didn’t understand. What does a handgun and drugs have to do with the broken suspension and busted shocks? I looked around the page a bit more, noting more writing on my bottom of the page on the right.

Green 2006 chevy truck. License plate number: FAC 3315   
Stolen plates???

Immediately, I picked up my phone to call Matt. 

“Josie!” He said through the phone with enthusiasm over the rock music playing in the background. “I was actually just gonna call you about the prints on that gun you gave me.” He explained, and I sighed. I had totally forgot about those prints. 

“That’s great, but I need you to run a plate for me before you tell me.” I asked, and he popped his gum. 

“Alright, shoot.” He said simply, and I squinted to look at the paper. 

“It’s a green two thousand six chevy truck, and the plates may be stolen.” I wasn’t sure why, but Lucy knew more about cars that I ever would, so I trusted her judgement. “Plate number is FAC 3315.” I said, and the only thing that came back through the phone was the rock music before he spoke up. 

“Yeah, I haven’t even finished running the plate yet and I can tell you that it’s definitely stolen.” He laughed, “That plate pattern wasn’t established until twenty ten, and it’s a car regulated pattern, so they didn’t even try and find a plate with a matching car description.”

“Well, in their defense, where in New York will you find a green two thousand six chevy?” I jested, making him chuckle. 

“The plates are issued to some old lady who died last year of cancer.” He sighed, making me drop my head in my hands. 

“Please tell me you have good news on the prints.” I groaned, and he cleared his throat. 

“I do, actually.” He informed, and I uncovered my face, hopeful that Matt has come through for me again. “The print belongs to a man named Stefan Salvatore. I’m sending his address to you now.” He assured, and a moment later, my phone lit up, allowing me to see a message from Matt with Stefan’s address. 

“You’re a saint, Matt.” I sighed as I gathered my things and visit Stefan. 

“Yeah, I know.” He said cockily, “I’ll check police reports for crimes involving a two thousand six truck, green in color.” He assured. 

“Good thinking,” I commended, “my source says it was having suspension and shock problems, say…” I sifted through the notebook for the latest entry before this page, “... mid february of two thousand twenty two.” 

“What are you doing with a seven year old case?” He asked, and I hummed. 

“I’m solving a small case that’ll help me solve a bigger case.” I said simply, and he accepted it before telling me he’d call with any information about the truck and hanging up. 

Now, it was time to visit Stefan Salvatore. 

… 

“Penelope? What are you doing here?” I asked as she dismounted a motorcycle, placing the helmet on the seat as she walked up to the apartment complex with me. 

“Stefan is a fucking basket case.” She said simply, opening the door to the apartment building for me to walk in before her. “You may need some backup.” She said simply, and I rose a brow. 

“How did you know I was gonna be here?”

“I bugged your phone.” She said truthfully, taking me off guard. “How do you think I knew you touch yourself to the thought of me?” She scoffed before pushing the button on the elevator to take us up to his apartment. 

“Huh…” I said in astonishment. 

I couldn’t think about that now, I had to be focused on Stefan and why his prints were on the gun that was used to shoot Penelope. 

We got to the apartment and I knocked, “Stefan Salvatore? NYPD!” but when nobody answered, I turned the handle, clicking my tongue at the realization that it was locked. I prepared myself to shoulder it down, but before I could do so, Penelope lifted her leg and kicked it in, making me roll my eyes at her actions. 

“After you.” She said without emotion, allowing me to pull my gun from my pants, something I didn’t have a chance to do before Penelope jumped the gun. I walked in, my back to the wall as I looked around the messy apartment. Suddenly, an awful smell assaulted my nostrils, and I knew what that meant. I calmed my stance and checked all the rooms individually before getting to the back room to see a man lying on his bed, completely naked, a gunshot to his chest. 

“You should go,” I said as I pulled out my phone to call for backup, and she scoffed. 

“I’m not going anywhere.” She assured, and I rose a brow. 

“You can’t be here, Penelope, I could lose my job for having a civilian at a crime scene.” I warned, and she rolled her eyes before pulling the sleeve of her shirt from beneath her leather jacket over her hand and opening the closet door, revealing another man, holding a gun as he pointed it at me, I drew my gun out to point at him, but Penelope rose her hand at me. 

“Jed, what the hell are you doing here?” She rolled her eyes at the tan skinned man who put his gun in his pants. 

“I was following a lead for a drug case and found out Stefan bought from my perp.” He exhaled, and I rose a brow before he reached into his pocket jacket pocket for something before flashing me a badge. 

“FBI, huh?” I hummed, and he shrugged.

“Jed is my cousin.” Penelope divulged, and I rose a brow. 

“I thought you were a foster kid.” 

“We both are.” Jed admitted. 

“Anyway…” Sighed Penelope, “do you know who did this?” she inquired. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Diablito.” He shrugged. 

“Why?” I scoffed. 

“Well, I saw his truck fleeing when I walked up.” 

“Truck?” Penelope asked, voicing my question. 

“A green chevy truck.” He explained, and I rose a brow. 

“It’s old, right?” I asked, and he rose a brow, “two thousand six?” 

“How did you know?” He asked, and I watched Penelope’s eyes on me, making me feel overwhelmed with nerves. 

“I’m investigating the murder of someone who noted a green chevy truck with weapons and drugs inside.” I said vaguely, and Penelope’s throat tightened. 

“Do you think our investigations are intertwined?” He asked, and I shrugged. 

“My friend is working on the Diablito case as well.” I explained.

“Wait, I thought you said you worked for NYPD.” He said in confusion, and I sighed before handing him my own badge. “Homeland security.” He chuckled. 

“Subdivision.” I corrected, putting my badge away, as well as my weapon. 

“Does that mean Lucy was in with Diablito?” Lucy said worriedly, and Jed shook his head. 

“I'm sorry, I don't know.” 

“Can you give me clearancr?” I inquired, to which he gave me a look of hesitance. 

“Look, I've come further in your investigation than you have, and I wasn't even looking.” I pointed out, “I'm good at what I do. Let me see the file, just so I can solve my murder. Then I'll give you everything I find on Diablito.” I promised. 

“Who do you work under?” He inquired. 

“Mikaelson.” I asked, and Penelope spoke up in surprise. 

“Freya Mikaelson?” She asked, to which I rose my brow.

“How did you know?” 

“Dude,” Penelope snorted, “that's Hope's aunt.” 

Interesting. 

Now I really can't break Hope's heart. 

“Fine. But I want your friend's phone number so that we can combine our findings. That way it'll help all of us.” He demanded.

“Done.” I assured, “You can have the vic.” 

… 

“Why the fuck didn't you tell me Lucy identified Diablito's truck?” Penelope hissed at me as I got out of my car in front of my apartment. 

“I didn't know it was Diablito's truck.” I assured as I walked through the door to my apartment building. 

“You need to tell me when you come across evidence.” She demanded, and I rolled my eyes. 

“I'm sorry if my process doesn't include talking to you about every discovery I make.” I said sarcastically as I got into the elevator, Penelope following me close behind. 

“This is my girlfriend's case.” She excused. 

“And your girlfriend deserves justice, but it's time consuming to call you whenever I make a breakthrough. Besides, it's not like you can't figure most of it out yourself, given the fact you bugged my phone.” I complained, and she pushed a button on the elevator panel, making it stop its ascent. 

She moved close to me, looking up at my eyes, “I did that to make sure you stay safe!” She growled, and I narrowed my eyes at her. 

“Why?” I spat in suspicion, and she rolled her eyes. 

“How do you not realize by now?” She asked, her tone softer, causing me to raise a brow expectantly. “Are you really gonna make me say it out loud?” 

She moved away and ran her fingers through her short, thick hair. 

“I care about you.” She admitted.

I would never have said this out loud, but my stomach flipped at this admission.

“Why would you say what you did last week if you cared?” I asled in referrence to the time she told me she only needed me to solve this case. 

She looked me in the eyes again, showing the glossy green as she fought back tears. 

“I don't like feeling helpless either.” She admitted, stepping closer to me once again. “The idea of you leaving, of you not caring enoughy to talk to me… it made me feel helpless.” She admitted. “I'm sorry that I hurt you.” She whispered, and I couldn't fight the urge to take her hand. 

I pressed my lips against her knuckles, and she opened her palm to pull my cheek close to her. I felt her breath falter against my lips before she pressed her lips against mine softly. 

She pulled away slightly before kissing me again, her tongue lining my lip. She pushed me back gently, her left arm moving up to wrap around my head as she deepened the kiss, making me gasp when her knee ended up between my thighs.

I dropped my bag and took her face in both my hands to deepen the kiss, her right hand slipping between my stomach and my pants, easing to my sex. 

She pulled away with my lip between her teeth for a moment, making me moan as she circled her fingers around my straining clit. I kissed her neck, making her whimper before flicking her wrist sharply, making legs tremble beneath me. 

Her breathing was harsh against my ear as she started up a rythm that made my thighs shake to the point that I could barely stand. 

“I -I…” I exhaled, unable to breathe properly as I pulled her face away from me. I caressed her cheek as I looked into her dark green eyes, “Let's take this upstairs.” I suggested breathily, to which her brow quirked up before she used her left hand to push the button to keep going up again. Her hand didn't stop their ministrations until the door opened, then we made our way down the hall to my apartment. Her lips never left mine as I opened the door and closed it behind her, not as I pushed her up against it, but as soon as I heard a familiar voice.

“Well, hello to you too.”


	9. Huit

The moment I heard the voice was when I shoved Penelope off of me to meet blue eyes filled with amusement. 

“Hope is just in the bathroom.” She warned, and I felt my body become overwhelmed with panic as I frantically began to fix the way I looked to keep Hope from figuring out what had just been going on between Penelope and I. 

“Did you say something?” asked Hope from around the corner as she walked into the front room. 

“Hope, what are you doing here?” I chuckled as I walked toward her to give her a peck on the lips, her eyes were confused as she looked to Penelope. 

“I was about to ask the same thing about Penelope.” She asked, making me panic. 

“She called me early this morning saying she made a break in the case so we’ve been working on it since like six this morning.” She chuckled as she walked further into the house to where Lizzie was standing in the kitchen behind the island to shake her hand. “I’m Penelope, by the way.” She smiled, and Lizzie looked her up and down with a smirk. 

“I’m Lizzie.” She returned. 

“Yes you are…” She bit her lip and looked my sister up and down. 

Oh God. 

“Anyway…” I trailed off before turning back to Hope. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t come see you this morning, I was-”

“I get it.” She interrupted, “Just text me next time, okay?” she asked, to which I grinned. 

“Of course.” 

“Now,” She snaked her arms around my waist and leaned up, “give me a proper hello.” She hummed, leaning up to peck my lips once, twice, three times before closing her lips around my bottom lip, delving her tongue into my mouth smoothly. I moaned around her tongue before lifting my hands up to tug her hair playfully before she tugged on the lapels of my blazer to pull me down closer. 

“Okay!” Lizzie laughed awkwardly with a clap as she walked over to us, “Josie said she was working on a case, so maybe you should get to work instead.” She suggested, resulting in Hope pulling away hesitantly, hanging from my neck with one arm hooked around my shoulders, her breath heavy as she leaned her head against mine breathily. 

“I just came by to make sure everything was okay when you didn’t text me back after not showing.” She grinned, and scrunched my nose against hers before kissing her again. 

“I’ll come visit you tomorrow morning, for sure.” I promised, and she bit her lip before grinning, a big, face eating grin. 

“Tomorrow morning then.” She whispered, “Come early so we can get a little bad, agent Saltzman.” I rose a brow at her, to which she rolled her eyes. “Of course, I meant Special Agent Saltzman.” She winked before passing my and sauntering out of the door, briefly waving goodbye to my sister and her roommate before leaving. I rushed to the door and looked through the peephole, not moving until she was completely around the corner. 

“You couldn’t have texted me that she was here?!” I asked in a whispered tone to my sister who scoffed. 

“I did text you! Three times! You didn’t text me back.” I groaned and purposely slammed the back of my head into the wood of my door slightly before stepping away and taking my bag, setting it on my kitchen table to open it. 

“So… are you two going to explain to me what the hell just happened?” Lizzie asked, to which I gritted my teeth. 

“Yeah… you may want to wash your hand after shaking it with Penelope.” I advised, to which Lizzie’s eyes widened before she squealed and rushed to the sink to wash her hands with steaming hot water. 

“Ew ew ew!” She cried, but Penelope just looked at me with a smirk, making me roll my eyes. 

“So anyway, it’s nice to finally meet you, Lizzie.” Penelope chuckled. 

“Yeah, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Lizzie exchanged while she dried her hands with the towel on the counter. She’s lucky I had half the mind to bleach that counter after the last adventure Hope and I had in there because I saw her leaning against it and eating over it this morning. 

“I wish I could say the same.” Penelope trailed, and Lizzie rolled her eyes. 

“I’ve always been a touchy subject for her, so I’m not surprised. Besides, she told me everything yesterday.” 

“Oh, yeah, I know.” She chuckled before smirking my way, “I’m happy she left out the details of our first night together though. Those are sacred. Just for us.” 

“Yeah,” she scoffed, “Me too.” 

“I think you missed the part where Penelope said that she knows I told you everything last night, Liz.” I reminded, and Lizzie seemed intrigued. 

“I bugged her phone.” She shrugged. 

“I still can’t believe you would do something like that.” I complained as I sat down at my table, Lizzie sitting beside me while Penelope washed her own hands before sitting across from Lizzie and I. 

“I literally don’t know anything about you, Jojo, how was I supposed to learn something when all you do is deflect me?” She asked defensively, and Lizzie seemed perplexed. 

“You hate when people call you Jojo.” She pointed out, and I shrugged.

“Yeah, but her thing is annoying me so if I act like it doesn’t annoy me, she does it less.” I whispered. 

“I can hear you, I’m literally right here.” She said annoyedly before Lizzie folded her hands in front of her in amusement. 

“Okay, now that everything’s out in the open, it’s time to talk about our feelings,” she confronted, “no lies, no deflecting, no witty bullshit.” She required. 

“Okay… how are we even gonna begin there?” Penelope asked, a tone of distaste on her lips. 

“How about we start with that totally jealous look you had on your face when you saw Josie and Hope kissing a few minutes ago?”She suggested, but Penelope chuckled. 

“I wasn’t jealous,” she lied, “my confused face and my turned on face are really similar.” She joked, and Lizzie rolled her eyes. 

“You had your arms crossed over your chest, you were frowning, and you looked like you wanted to set Hope on fire. Now, let’s talk about why you were jealous. Do you have feelings for Josie?” She asked of Penelope, who just shrugged. 

“I mean, she’s good at what she does, and I don’t want her to do it with anyone else.” She tried, and Lizzie sighed. 

“What do you see when you look at Josie?” Lizzie asked, and Penelope looked me in the eyes for a moment, hands crossed over each other as she looked over my, her eyes slowly trailing down the frame of my face. “Be as specific and blunt as you want. This is a safe space.” 

“I see soft, silky brown hair.” She admitted, trying to sound nonchalant. “I see a mystery. An enigma who just stumbled upon secrecy because it’s easier to be mysterious than it is to let people in and be vulnerable.” She admitted, and I felt so naked at that moment, being completely torn down the way I was. “I see beautiful brown eyes. The kind that have seen awful things and have been able to turn them beautiful. The kind of eyes that have been forced to see the worst in people because of her past.” She exhaled shakily, “I see lips that I constantly want to kiss.” She swallowed a lump in her throat, and I had to do the same. 

Even I didn’t see myself that way.

“Good. Now how do you feel when you look at Josie?” Lizzie asked simply. 

“I feel…” She swallowed a lump in her throat, “sad. Angry. Happy,” she chuckled, “but mostly sad and angry.” She admitted.

“Why?” 

“I feel sad…” She was obviously fighting threatening tears, “because I haven’t felt this happy about anyone since Lucy died, and it makes me angry at myself that I was so quick to ditch Lucy when the perfect girl came along.” She admitted. 

“You shouldn’t feel angry…” Lizzie assured, “Lucy would want you to be happy because she loved you.” She promised, “I know I don’t know her, but Josie said that she seemed like the sweetest person anyone could ever meet, and the only someone like that would want for their love is for them to be happy, and if someone like Josie would make you happy, then she’s more than thrilled to see you here. So stop beating yourself up and allow yourself to be happy.” She advised before turning to me. 

“Now, tell me what you see when you look at Penelope.” She demanded, and when I opened my mouth to speak, my voice was hoarse from fighting back all those tears. 

“I see someone who’s insufferably arrogant.” I said immediately, and I watched a small smile fall on her lips, though it seemed sad. “I see someone who claims to go after what she wants, when in reality, she doesn’t even know what she likes, and that is incredibly annoying.” I groaned, “I see someone dangerous and unpredictable. I see someone I can’t stand.” 

It was a moment before I could actually admit to myself that she was more than someone who got under my skin, and when I did, all my emotions flooded in, especially in response to seeing the pain in her eyes. 

“Despite all of that…” I sighed, “I see someone who would do anyone for the people she cares about. I see someone who likes to hide her motives with selfish intent, when in reality, she’s afraid that if she shows someone she cares, they’ll leave, or someone will take them from her.” I watched a single tear fall from her green eyes, “I see someone who has a purpose for every action she makes and for every word she utters.” I couldn’t help but reach out to take Penelope’s hand, “But most of all, I see a scared young woman who just wants someone to love her.” 

It was a moment before anyone said anything. I just looked at her while she did so to me, Lizzie’s eyes shifting between us before Penelope finally spoke up. 

“You were right when you said Lizzie should’ve been a therapist.” 

… 

“What is it with you and rooftops?” Penelope asked, catching me off guard from where I stood, looking out at the sun as it set over the buildings just before it, leaning against the edge of the building. “Aren’t you afraid of heights?” 

“No…” I shook my head simply. “There’s just something about being so small, but being able to see so much. It’s like for once, I’m in charge of everything. I can see what’s happening, so I have control of it. For once, I’m in control of things.” I admitted as I continued to watch the bright blue meld with the orange glow of the sun, kissing the reflection of every New York window of every skyscraper and apartment building in the city. 

“That makes sense.” She admitted as she walked closer to me. I could feel the care she was putting into approaching me, a care that went so deep that she decided to stand a few feet away from me, so not to scare me away. “Can I admit one last thing without Lizzie here?” She asked, and I didn’t look him in the eye as I answered her question. 

“You’re the only person I’ve been with since Lucy died.” She admitted. 

“What?” I asked, unable to resist looking at her now. “I thought you said you and Hope fooled around.” She recalled, and Penelope scoffed. 

“No, that was a joke. I could never do something like that, not since she and Lucy were best friends.” She sighed. 

“Why me?” I asked, “Of all the people at that party that night… why me?” 

“Honestly?” She asked, to which I nodded. “I don’t know. It’s just that… the way you were standing there, holding your drink and acting as though nobody else mattered. It was like I was drawn to you. From the moment I met you, I knew you were special. I know something about you would change my life forever.” 

I couldn’t help but smile at those words, my heart wrenching in my chest at the idea of such a fate coming to be for us. 

“I mean,” she scoffed, leaning over the edge of the building to look down at the busy evening traffic, “think about it: we met on the furthest piece of land south of New York in the United States and it seems like we’d never see eachother again. Then, you get assigned my case in New York, and you attend the same bar on the same night of my roommate.” She scoffed as she leaned back to look at the sky again. “For a moment I thought you were stalking me.” She admitted before trailing off and muttering something I almost didn’t catch. 

“Now I’m starting to think there’s a reason we can’t get rid of each other.” 

“You’re a criminal, Penelope.” I reminded, “Any chance of us happening was over before we even met.” 

“You yourself said that doesn’t matter,” She chuckled, looking over her shoulder at me before turning to look me in the eyes. 

“To me,” I sighed, “to me, it doesn’t. But I can’t just ignore the case I was given.” I reminded, “The law isn’t as easy to persuade as I was.” I assured, and she sighed. 

“I’ll hold up my end of the deal.” She promised, the look in her eye an indication of that when she didn’t stop looking between my eyes. “I’ll hold my hands out and I’ll let you cuff me, but now,” she exhaled, stepping close to me, “I want to enjoy you for as long as I can.” She admitted, her hand coming up to caress my cheek, her voice falling to a painfully broken sound. “No games, no lies, no deception.” I watched her throat tighten as she swallowed her nerves. “I promise.” 

“What about Hope?” I asked, my voice shaky, my throat dry as I contemplated her promise. 

“Leave her.” She plead, “The way you began this with her, it’ll never last.” She said realistically, “You’ll have to tell her eventually, and the longer you wait, the worse it’s gonna be on her self-esteem.” 

She was right.

Of course she was right, she always was.

“Okay.” My voice shuttered with a finality we both felt, because something shifted between us. She took the collar of my shirt and pulled me down, her lips capturing mine tightly, strongly resembling the way my chest tightened when her other hand tightened in my hair the way it had in the elevator earlier. 

I moaned against her mouth and ran my fingers through her short, thick locks of hair, tugging on them to pull her closer, a desperate air between us as her tongue pried my lips open with ease, considering the fact that I was so willing to allow her to do anything to me. 

“I want you, Josie” she breathed loudly, her forehead against mine as she looked up into my eyes, and I nodded wordlessly, taking her hand to drag her to the apartment, but before I could open the door, she shook her head, green eyes frantic. “Your sister. Won’t she be back soon?” 

“She left to get food from on twenty fourth street. It’ll be awhile.” I exhaled, to which she smirked. We rushed down the stairs and halls of my apartment building hand in hand until we finally got into my apartment. I took the time to look around the place while Penelope put her jacket in the closet before we met in my room, stripping ourselves of our clothes before she sauntered to my in nothing but her red bra while I finished removing my pants and began unbuttoning my top. 

“Let me.” She whispered, looking up at me through long, curly lashes as she slowly unfastened each button, her fingers curling around each piece of plastic with intent until she finally finished, allowing me to let the fabric slide off of my shoulders. She looked me up and down with hooded, dark green eyes while I unfastened my bra and stepped out of my underwear slowly. 

This tone was different from what I was used to and I didn’t understand why. 

She walked up to me slowly, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me to her lips by the back of my head, a searing kiss that made my knees buckle out from under me while my arms snaked around her bare waist to pull her so close that I could feel her nipples stand to attention against my ribs. 

I felt her skin erupt in goosebumps as I moved my lips against hers, finding it the best time to shuffle with her in my arms to the bed, lowering her down to the mattress with a slowness that compelled me to show her something tende, something I didn’t realize I craved from Penelope. 

I caressed her face as I looked deeply into her eyes, igniting something within me as I leaned down, the kiss calm and soft, something I hadn’t done with her before. 

Something I hadn’t done since Rafael. 

I pulled away to get a grip of myself. 

This wasn’t about Rafael.

Hell, this wasn’t even about Penelope. 

This was about me. About allowing myself to overcome the pain that I associated this with. 

“Are you okay?” She asked, leaning up to check on me, so I inhaled, and let it out shakily with a nod. I bit my lip before moving to lean down, only for her to stop me with a hand on her chest. “Do you want me to take over..?” She asked, voice tender, eyes soft and warm. 

“I-I’m just a little nervous.” I chuckled to hide the fact that I was ready to cry. 

“Hey, we don’t have to do this.” She assured, leaning up to hold my face, but I pulled away slowly. 

“No, we can… you can take over.” I allowed, and she rose a brow before sitting up so we were sitting across from each other. She took my face in her hands and kissed me softly. I hummed and leaned into her lips, allowing her to lick my bottom lip smoothly, her arms resting on my shoulders, the pressure making my body studder, but I covered it up by leaning back so she could straddle me, something she approached carefully, not putting too much weight on me. 

“You’re sure?” She asked one last time, and I swallowed a lump in my throat before nodding. She nodded at me in confirmation before moving down to kiss my neck, but it made me uncomfortable. 

All I could think about was him. 

The pressure of his hands around my neck, the feeling of being trapped. The feeling of being hopeless. Of being weak. 

I didn’t even realizing I was crying until I felt Penelope’s warmth leave me. I opened my eyes and wiped my tears from in front of my eyes to look for her when she was walking to the door, something I wanted to shout out for her not to do. 

I didn’t want her to leave. 

She stopped before the door, in front of my dresser beside it, pulling a drawer open before pulling two pajama shirts out. She pulled one over her head, and I noted it was long enough to go almost to her knees as she walked back to the bed. She motioned for me to sit up, which I did, before gently slipping the shirt over my head, causing me to put my hands into the arm holes. She sat against the headboard of my bed and opened her arms for me to near her. I sat beside her, and she pulled me against her chest with a softness, running her fingers through my hair to calm my pounding chest. 

“You should’ve just told me you were scared.” She whispered through a silence I had gotten used to. “I would’ve understood.” 

I took her right hand from where it sat on the other side of her body, pulling it across her body to toy with her fingers softly. 

“I don’t like admitting my feelings.” I admitted, and she sighed sadly. 

“I get that, all too well.” She chuckled before we slipped into a silence again. 

“I’m sorry.” I whispered, and she chuckled, her chest vibrating against my ear with her laugh. 

“Don’t apologize, Jojo. I understand. I’m more worried about you than anything else.” She admitted, the thumb of her right hand stroking my knuckles, her left hand twirling a strand of my hair around. 

“Why?” I whimpered, and she chuckled. I looked up at her face for the first time since we started lying together. I noticed the glossy look in her eyes as she moved her hand to lay over my cheek completely. 

“Someday, you’ll understand why I do some of the things I do.” 

… 

I woke up the next morning exhausted. I didn’t move from the spot on Penelope’s chest at all, not since we laid there in the late afternoon the night before, and when I opened my eyes, I was more than thrilled to see that she was still under my head, only now, we were covered up by a blanket from the couch in my front room. 

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” She hummed, her voice deep and raspy from sleep. I looked up at her, slightly annoyed by the fact that she looked just as beautiful from sleep as she did any other time. 

“What time is it?” I moaned as I stretched from atop the girl who still held me. 

“Five.” She said simply, and I rose a brow. 

“What are you doing us at five?” I asked, perplexed. 

“You mean beside the fact that we went to sleep at seven last night?” 

Oh yeah. Right. 

“I get up at five every morning, usually because I go for a run in the morning.” She admitted. 

“Why?” 

“It started off as a way to train to find Lucy’s killer.” She divulged, “but once that died down, my brain started waking me up at five, but I still can’t get to sleep the next night if I don’t blow off steam.” 

“You should’ve told me to get up!” I complained as I sat up quickly, and she chuckled with the shake of her head, holding her arms out to hold me again.

“I can stand to go a little later,” she assured, “the shop doesn’t open until one, so I’ll be okay to wait.” She hummed when I laid against her again, moving to run her fingers through my hair again. “I just wanna stay like this a little longer.” She hummed, closing her eyes as we just laid there in silence. 

“How did we get a blanket?” I hummed, and she chuckled. 

“I think Lizzie put it on us last night because I fell asleep soon after you did.” 

“It’s a good thing you decided to get shirts because that would’ve been awkward.” I chuckled. 

“Josie…” 

“Yeah?” 

“What happens if you find out Lucy actually did something bad? To get killed by someone like Diablito?” She asked, and I sighed. 

It was a sudden question, but of course I had an answer for it. 

“I don’t think she did anything wrong.” I admitted. “I mean, Kaleb gave me her journal, and I’ve been reading through it for the last week, and with a mind like hers, she’d never do something to get mixed up with those people.”

“Yeah, but some people surprise you.” 

“Yeah, and some people don’t.” I shrugged, and she got silent, so I turned so I could look up at her. “You wanna know what I think?” 

“What?”

“I think that Lucy was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, and she got caught up in something she couldn’t have predicted what happened.” 

“And what do you think happened?” 

“I think Lucy was repairing Diablito’s truck and she found drugs and weapons, and she was thinking about doing something about it, but before she had a chance, they found out and decided to get rid of her to prevent collateral damage.” I said truthfully, and she rolled her eyes. 

“She’s not some obstacle, she’s a person.” She said harshly. 

“I know that, of course I do. But do you think some drug and arms dealer who owns half the gangs and police in New York is gonna worry about one person when she stands in the way of something he was trying to get to?” 

“You have a point.” She rolled her eyes, and I sighed before getting up. “Where are you going?” 

“I have to go to the bathroom.” I said lastly before walking out of my room to do what I said I would.

This was strange, Penelope being so willing to deal with my issues, like how I freaked out on her last night, and she didn’t expect anything in return. She was so ready to stop, and to hold me when that was never something we did before. 

What was worse is that being held by her felt so natural, so normal. It was as though she’s been holding me my whole life, and that we were meant to be like this, together. 

Listen to me, talking about this killer like we had a future and like I’m not totally nuts with some strange, unbridled addiction to danger and pain. 

The thing is, however, I didn’t feel like I was in danger when I was around Penelope. 

I even have to convince myself, at times, that she’s dangerous, and that I need to keep my distance from her. 

So perhaps she’s not dangerous at all.

Or perhaps that’s what makes her so dangerous.


	10. Nuef

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> make sure you comment! i love reading what you have to say!

“Josie!” I heard from the other end of the bullpen from MG, making me roll my eyes as he strode to my desk. 

“Do you really have to yell, Milton?” I asked, gripping my head in my hands, and he shrugged. 

“Probably not.” He admitted before sitting on my desk in his normal place. “Anyway, I found out that you’re the one who gave my number to that Jed guy.” He told me, as though it were some incredible revelation. 

“I wasn’t hiding it from you.” I laughed. 

“Do you know if he’s gay?” He asked, to which I rose a brow.

“Why are you asking?” 

“No reason.” He shrugged, not convincing me that there wasn’t a reason. 

“Why? Are you gay?” I rose a brow. 

“I mean, labels are stupid.” He shrugged back, “I don’t think my sexuality should, like, matter, or whatevers. It’s twenty twenty eight, that stuff is outdated now, ya feel?”.” He tried, and I rose a brow again. 

“Are you saying you like people for people?” I asked, a swell of pride coming up in my chest. 

“I mean,” he shrugged, “yeah.” he finally admitted. “I’ve been with men and I like it just as much as women, so I guess it doesn’t matter for me.” 

Wow. 

I knew I liked him for a reason. 

“Penelope might like you more now that she knows you’re not just some cis, straight male.” I joked, and she rose a brow. 

“Am I supposed to be worried about her liking me? I thought she was the bad guy.” He assumed, to which I exhaled, guilty for confusing myself and everyone else. 

“It’s complicated, MG.” I scratched the back of my head, and he rose a brow. 

“It doesn’t sound very complicated to me, Josie.” He scolded. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” I scoffed. 

“I mean, you’re obviously falling in love with this girl.” He shrugged. 

“MG, it isn’t-”

“Don’t even think about lying to me, Jo.” He interrupted. “I may not know you as well as I thought I did, but I know what love looks like.” 

“Yeah? What does it look like?” I asked defensively. 

“It looks like you. Suddenly giddy and happy, you talk about her, you probably only ever think about her too.” He revealed, and something about it made me feel naked. 

“Am I a bad person?” I relented, and he rose a brow. 

“Why would you think you’re a bad person?” He softened. 

“I fell in love with a criminal,” I chuckled sadly, “She killed people, and I can’t stop thinking about her, and wanting to be around her.” 

“Yeah, she’s killed people, but so have I.” He reminded, “So has Captain Mikaelson, so has half the agents in this room.” He pointed out. 

“You said she was the bad guy.” I muttered.

“You said it first.” He countered with a shrug before leaning down to meet my eyes. “Listen, she obviously had great reasons to do what she did. She’s not the bad guy. She was dealt a bad hand, and nobody was willing to do something about it.” He justified. 

“Yeah, but that’s for the law to figure out. She should’ve given the police the information she had.” I tried, but he sat in the chair beside my desk to look at me, taking my hand into his lap. 

“A good officer can abide by rules and laws, but they see things in black and white.” He began, “But a great officer can gage intent, and bring justice for the people who did bad things for good reasons.” 

“What about a good person?” I asked, and he smiled tightly, dropping his hand on my knee assuredly. 

“If you were a bad person, you wouldn’t be worried about being a bad person.” 

… 

“Thanks so much for letting me drop by again, Kaleb.” I said kindly as I followed the man to the back room where Lucy’s room used to be.

“Yeah, it’s no problem.” He assured as he opened the door and turned the light on. 

“I was actually wondering if I could talk to you about the weeks leading up to Lucy’s death.” I requested of the man whose shirt was covered in grease. 

“Yeah, just let me go close the doors real quick.” He said kindly before leaving to do as he said he would. I decided to take this time to look around. 

The room was almost completely empty other than the bed and an old office chair, so I decided the only place I could look was under the bed. I lifted the light frame and looked under it, noting a little shoebox in the back right corner by the wall. 

I don’t know what it was about Lucy and Penelope and shoeboxes, but so far, they’ve helped me learn about the case, so I was betting this would help me too. 

I slid under the bed to grab the box, a box much smaller than the one under Penelope’s bed, a size seven heeled boot. 

It looked like it could’ve been Penelope’s shoebox. 

Something about that made my chest ache. That they both loved each other so much that they both have the mindset to take each other’s shoeboxes. 

I opened the box, noting a stack of photos filled to the brim, only they were bowed, meaning they were on top of something at the bottom of the box. I dug through the photos, but before I could get to the bottom, Kaleb walked in, interrupting me. 

“You can take that too if you want. If it helps you find her killer.” He assured from the door before sitting on the chair in the corner, and I thanked him before closing the box and putting it on the bed where I sat to talk to him. 

“I just wanted to know if you can recall Lucy acting strange in the weeks leading up to her death.” I requested, and he looked up in thought for a moment. 

“I mean, not really.” He shrugged, “She was always strange, but she wasn’t any different from her usual strangeness.” 

“There was a green Chevy truck Lucy mentioned in her journal…” I trailed, “It was a two thousand six model, had break issues, busted shocks and the suspension was bad. Do you remember it at all?” I asked, and his nose crinkled as he blinked repeatedly. 

“Yeah, vaguely, lemme go look through the computer. We keep records for up to ten years in case the owner decides to come back and get their car checked out again.” He offered before getting up and walking out. 

I took this time to look through the box again, going straight to the lump in the bottom of the shoebox. I felt around and was alerted by a soft feeling on my fingertips. I grabbed the object and my eyes widened when I saw that it was a red velvet ring box. 

I opened it and almost gasped when I was blinded by the big, shining white diamond glaring at me from its box where it stayed for the last six years. 

“Okay, so here’s everything you’ll need to know about the owner of the two thousand six green Chevy truck.” Kaleb said suddenly as he rounded the corner, allowing me to close the ring box and put it in my jacket pocket before he walked in. He had a stack of papers in his hands when he walked in and gave them to me to allow me to review them. 

“Thank you so much for this, Kaleb.” I said sincerely, and he waved it off. 

“Thank me by doing your best to find out who would do this to her.” He sighed solemnly. 

“Tell me: what was your favorite thing about her?” I asked, and he sighed before sitting down across from me. 

“I mean, how could you pick just one favorite thing about the most amazing person you’ve ever met?” He laughed reminiscently. “She was…” he shook his head as he remembered his friend, “she was the best. She was sweet, and so willing to love you, no matter who you are. It was almost like people gravitated toward her because of how warm and kind she was.” His eyebrows scrunched together for a moment, “And she was willing to tell you straight up if you were pullin some bullshit, you know? She didn’t spare your feelings, but she didn’t judge you, so you still felt safe when she called you out.” She chuckled as he shook his head and looked up to me. 

“There was this one time where I got really drunk and almost wrecked my car, and she took care of me while I was hungover, but as soon as I was better, she slapped me and called me an idiot.” I watched a tear fall from his eye, “Even though she was ready to beat me up, I still felt safe, because I knew she would never actually hurt me.” 

“And how did you feel when she died?” I inquired. 

“I couldn’t believe it at first.” He admitted, “I thought the cop who told me she was dead was joking, or that I was having a bad dream…” He trailed off for a moment before wiping the tears streaming down his face. “Only now, no matter how many times I wake up, she won’t come back.” His voice cracked as he leaned back against the chair’s back, his head resting so he was looking up at the stained ceiling, likely to stop his tears. “I loved that woman, man.” He chuckled, “I never get to talk about her because Penelope gets upset, but I loved her. I was in love with her.” I heard him let out a sob, and I felt my chest sink. “Man, I’m still in love with her.” 

“I really wish it turned out differently.” I sighed, and he clicked his tongue. 

“It wouldn’t have mattered man, she was so in love with Penelope, there’s no way I had a chance.” He sighed, “But at least she’d still be alive to shed her light on the world.” 

It was silent for a moment before he sat forward and looked me in the eyes. 

“I want you to promise me somethin.” He demanded, and I rose a brow. “I want you to tell the person you love the most that you love them as soon as you see them next. And tell your loved ones the truth, about everything. Because you never know what could happen to them. You never know who you’ll lose.” 

“I…” 

“Promise me.” He plead. 

“I promise.” 

… 

I decided to take Kaleb's advice to tell the truth to the ones I cared about, and started with Hope. 

I was nervous, to say the least. 

The last thing I wanted was to hurt Hope's feelings, but I got myself too deep into this with her and Penelope both not to come out with some hurt feelings, at the very least. 

“Josie, hey!” Grinned Hope from the other side of the coffee shop counter as she wiped it down. 

“Hope, can we talk?” I exhaled, and blue eyes washed over with concern before she untied her apron. 

“Yeah…” She trailed off before walking to the back to go talk to someone, “I'm going on break.” I heard faintly before she returned in a black top and blue jeans. 

“What's wrong?” Hope asked once we were seated in a corner table, her hand reaching across the table to take mine. 

“I…” I inhaled to brace myself. “I can't be with you anymore.” I let out finally, and her concern changed to something I couldn't gage before she pulled her hand from mine, into her lap.

“Oh…” She said simply, looking down at her hands in her lap. 

“I'm sorry…” I trailed, “I don't want to lose you as a friend, because I know friends like you don't just fall into people's laps.” I requested, and she looked up at me with glassy crystal eyes, making my heart tighten in my chest. 

“I…” She chuckled through her tears, wiping the threatening droplets from the corners of her beautiful eyes, “I don't understand where this is coming from, I thought we were okay, I-” her voice cracked. 

“I know this feels sudden…” I exhaled, looking down painfully, “I would never purposely hurt you, Hope, I swear, but I just can't be with you.” I assured. 

“Just…” She exhaled shakily through her tears, “...just, just tell me why, please.” She exhaled. 

“I-” I didn't want to tell her the truth. I couldn't, I mean, Penelope was her best friend. “I don't see myself falling in love with you.” I exhaled with the shake of my head. “I mean…” I scoffed, “you're perfect. The best, most loving, and caring woman I've ever met.” I swallowed a lump in my throat. I couldn't cry, I was the one breaking up with her, I had to stay strong. “But I'm not good enough for perfect.” I chuckled sadly. 

“Is…” She took a deep breath before exhaling, “is there someone else? Someone less perfect?” She asked bitterly, and though it was hesitant, I gave her a slight nod. 

It was silent for a moment as Hope tried not to make a scene. 

“Hope, I'm so sorry, I-” 

“It's Penelope, isn't it?” She interrupted, catching me off guard.

“H-huh?”

“Penelope. You're in love with her.” It wasn't a question anymore, she knew it was me. 

“I-I don’t know if I would say I’m in love, bu-” 

“You’re lying to yourself.” She scoffed, to which I was taken aback. 

“Excuse me?” 

“Look,” Hope sighed, wiping her tears from her face before standing up, “I can’t do this right now. I have to get back to work.” She scooted the chair in and took a deep breath in before walking behind the counter to finish her shift.

… 

“Josie, guess what!” Shouted my sister as she opened the door to my apartment to barge in, a big, happy grin on her face as she walked across the front room to meet me in the kitchen where I was standing over the stove, cooking dinner for the two of us. 

“What’s up?” 

“I got the job!” She squealed excitedly as she stomped over to me, allowing me to open my arms to hug my big sister. 

“That's great!” I laughed excitedly as I held her buzzing form. “We'll celebrate! Let's go out for drinks after this?” I suggested, and Lizzie pulled away, teeth gritted.

“Hope actually invited me to have dinner.” She chuckled, scratching the back of her head awkwardly, and I dropped my hands dejectedly.

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, she told me about what happened this afternoon while I was waiting for my interview and I couldn’t bare to hear her cry like that, so I offered to take her to dinner.” She shrugged, and I pouted. 

“That’s okay.” I hummed, “I have to talk to Penelope anyway.” 

“About what?” She asked as she walked to the fruit bowl on the table and grabbed an apple before taking a bite out of it. I put my spatula down and walked over to my bag to pull the velvet box out. I opened it and put it on the table for Lizzie to see, causing her jaw to drop, the chewed up apple showing as she looked at the diamond. 

“Josie!” She scolded urgently, “It’s been like two months, when I said to admit your feelings, I didn’t mean to-” 

“No!” I interrupted, holding my hand up to stop her. “I found this in an old shoebox under Lucy’s bed in the shop office.” I divulged, and she exhaled in relief. 

“Thank God.” She laughed, “I mean, this is awful, I can’t believe Lucy never got to propose and now you have to explain this, but thank God you haven’t actually lost your mind.” She rambled, and I sighed. 

“Anyway, I have some information on the owner of the green truck, but I don’t want to look at it until I have my conscious clear of this.” I exhaled, and she rose a brow. 

“You didn’t even think of just throwing the ring away and acting like it never happened?” Lizzie asked. 

“Of course I thought of it.” I scoffed, closing the box and putting it on the counter by the stove before stirring the asparagus in the pan. “But I could never do that to her, Liz. I mean, what kind of selfish asshole would I be to keep something this big from Penelope?” 

“You’re right.” She sighed before taking another bite. 

“I’ll have her share this food with me and talk to her about the ring tonight.” I concluded before pulling the asparagus off of the stove to go text Penelope. 

Come over, I made dinner, and I have some news.

I typed, and almost immediately, she responded. 

Bold of you to assume I don’t have plans. 

She responded, and I rolled my eyes. 

You have Wednesdays off, Hope is at work, Jed is with MG and you hate Kaleb. 

Fair enough. I’ll be there in 10. 

She was here before Lizzie left, and the two had a simple conversation while I served plates for Penelope and I. 

“So… you and Hope, huh?” Penelope grinned, and Lizzie rose a brow. 

“How did you know that?” 

Simultaneously, Penelope and I answered her question. 

“She has my phone tapped.”

“I have her phone tapped.”

“And I thought I was controlling.” Lizzie scoffed with the roll of her eyes as she put a jacket on to leave. 

“Have fun!” Penelope said over enthusiastically as Lizzie opened the door to leave. 

“Bye, weirdos.” 

Before putting our plates on the table, I decided to clean up the pans, putting them in the sink before taking a rag and wiping down the stove, before I felt Penelope’s arms snake around my waist. 

“Looks like we have the apartment to ourselves.” She moaned into my ear, making the hairs on the nape of my neck stand to attention. 

“Let’s just eat first.” I moaned, and she turned me around by the waist so she could look me in the eyes. She reached her arms up around my neck and pulled herself closer to me. 

“I know of something I can eat right now.” She moaned, leaning her head back to expose her neck. “You don’t even have to cook either.” 

“Penelope, we need to talk.” I sighed, pushing her away, and she rose a brow with a soft smirk. 

“That doesn’t sound good. Are you breaking up with me?” She teased, and I sighed, reaching behind me to grab the velvet box from the counter by the stove. 

“I wanted to wait until after dinner…” I opened the box to show her the ring, and she stepped back, her eyes filled with concern. 

“Josie, we just met.” She panicked, “I mean, d-don’t get me wrong, you’re great bu-”

“I didn’t buy this ring.” I interrupted, and she looked at me with confusion, before realization hit her and her eyes automatically fell, her hand falling to her lips. 

“Oh my God…” She exhaled, the sound muffled before she reached out to take it. Emerald jewels looked on at diamond for a moment, the way she held it resembling a small child holding something breakable, afraid to move, or even breathe, because if she did, it would shatter in her grasp. 

I watched her begin to shake, her lip quivering as her fingers trembled around the box before she collapsed. I caught her before she fell to the ground, sending us together as she let out a blood curdling sob. I felt tears fall from my eyes automatically, the ring box clutched in one hand, a fistful of my shirt in the other. I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed her back softly. 

“It’s okay,” I whispered as I began to rock back in forth, “you can let it out.” I assured as I ran the fingers of my other hand through her hair. I felt her fist fall against my chest weakly, as though she was angry, but too tired and sad to muster the strength to do anything about it. 

“It isn’t fair!” She sobbed, her voice broken and muffled against my chest, “It isn’t fair, Jojo, it isn’t fair!” 

“I know it isn’t.” I whispered as she shook against me, her broken form overcome with emotion. 

“It isn’t fair!” She bawled again, “It’s not fair, Jojo, it isn’t fucking fair! It’s not, it’s not, it’s not…” She trailed off as her sobs turned quieter, into small whimpers and cries into my shirt. 

“I know it isn’t fair.” I promised her as I continued to rake my fingers through her short raven locks. “I know, Pen.” 

I know. 

… 

I was exhausted the next day. 

Penelope left with the ring about an hour later, after she could muster the strength to stand up, and she hasn’t spoken to me since. Right now, it was just after my lunch, and I was finally ready to crack open the file Kaleb gave me when I was met with a familiar head of blonde hair. 

“Captain Mikaelson.” I smiled sadly, “How can I help you?” I inquired of her as she sat in the chair beside my desk. 

“I just wanted to make sure we were clear on something,” She said sternly as she leaned over the desk to talk to me lowly, so not to allow others to hear. “I’m your boss, but I’m an aunt first.” She warned, “I won’t hesitate to fire you and make sure you never work in law enforcement again.” She said, her jaw tight, “If you ever make my niece cry again, so help me God, you won’t even be able to get a job as a mall security guard in tibet by the time I’m done with you, Agent Saltzman, regardless of how good you are at your job, do you understand me?” She growled, and I nodded silently. 

“Yes Ma’am.” I said shakily, and she stood up. 

“Good. She may be quick to forgive you, but I’m not so forgiving.” She threatened before sticking her hands in her pockets and walking off. 

“What was that about?” MG scoffed as he walked up and sat on my desk, where I was left, shocked. 

“She just threatened to sabotage my career if I hurt Hope again.” I whispered, and he chuckled. 

“I take it that means you broke up with her.” 

“I broke her, MG.” I said sadly, and he shrugged. 

“She’ll find someone who deserves her.” He assured, offending me in the process. 

“Hey!” 

“What? I didn’t say you’re a bad person, there’s just gonna be someone who deserves her, the way you deserve Penelope.” He justified, reminding me of the mess that occured yesterday. 

“Oh, MG.” I groaned, “I found an engagement ring in Lucy’s stuff and showed it to Penelope.” I groaned. 

“Bold move.” He commended. “I’m proud of you. How did she take it?” 

“How do you think she took it?” I asked and he hummed. 

“Did you tell her as soon as you found the ring?” He asked. 

“I told her as soon as I saw her in person, which was just a couple hours after I found the ring.” I explained. 

“Oh, so she was devastated.” he assumed, and I felt a wave of sadness flush over my body. 

“She sobbed, MG.” I pouted, “She was screaming and shaking, and we laid on the kitchen floor. She hasn’t talked to me all day.” 

“Well, I don’t think you’re in trouble,” he assured, “I mean, she just found out she could be married to Lucy if she wasn’t murdered, and that’s just so hard to wrap your head around. Especially since it took her this long to get over Lucy.” 

“Yeah,” I sighed, “and it felt like Lucy was literally the best person on the planet. How could you ever get over losing the best person on the planet, even before finding out you would’ve had a lasting future together.” I helped rationalize. 

“You just gotta give her time.” He advised. 

“Let’s change the subject.” I requested. 

“Great! I was talking to Jed last night about the case of Diablito, and apparently he’s been active for years but for a long time, he was blaming his crimes on that old mafia leader that got arrested three years ago, remember Lorenzo St. John?” He asked, and I rose a brow. 

“Of course I do, I was with you when you made the arrest.” I scoffed, and he winked with a point. 

“He claimed he only did half the stuff he was convicted with, and now we know who was behind the other stuff, like the crack dealing in Manhattan, and the AK’s in Long Island.” 

“So part of Diablito’s M.O. is blaming his handiwork on others.” I concluded, “That’s why Penelope is being blamed for so much more than what she actually did.”

“Exactly!” He exclaimed, and I laughed optimistically before opening the folder I had put all of Kaleb’s papers into. I finally looked at the forms and looked for a name. 

“Can you ask Matt to look through any and all criminal databases for the name Hayley Marshall?” I asked as I read the name, flipping through the pages before noting something profound. “On second thought… I think we got a fingerprint.”


	11. Ten

Ten

“It looks like you’ve been through a lot this last week.” Emma observed, to which I had to fight the roll of my eyes. 

Of course I went through a lot, what kind of observation is that? I just spent the last half hour telling you about the shit I went through, Emma, this is not a profound statement. 

“Yeah,” I scoffed. 

“How have you been coping with the stress of it all?” She inquired, crossing her left leg over her right knee, resting her folded hands over her left knee in the unbelievably stereotypical way that all therapists sit. 

“I haven’t.” I admitted, “I’ve been busy working on this case. I mean, we’re so close to finding Lucy’s murderer that there’s no point in resting.” I assured. 

“Perhaps,” she hummed before inhaling, “or perhaps resting will give you a perspective you never thought of.” 

“Yeah, well, I don’t have much time to rest, I just want to get this done.” 

“What makes you so determined to solve this case?” She inquired. 

“Because then I can finally get this over with.” I said, as though it were obvious, “Penelope will be in jail and I’ll be able to get back to my old life.” 

“Do you really want that?” She asked, taking me by surprise. 

“Want what?” 

“Your old life.” She shrugged. “Penelope to be in jail, not there in your life.” 

“I… I don’t know.” I shook my head, baffled. I never thought of it that way. “But it’s not like there’s wiggle room there.” I chuckled sadly, “She’s a criminal.” 

“So you’re telling me that she’s just like the other people you’ve arrested?” She hummed, “Like Rafael? Like the man you were ready to arrest last week, Stefan?” 

“Well, no…” I pondered. 

“Well, what makes her like just another criminal?”

It took me a minute. 

How could she be? 

“She’s not.” I admitted, and she rose a brow. 

“Tell me why.” 

“She was a victim.” I admitted. “She spent her whole life fighting against a system that never worked in her favor. She was abused and beaten by foster parents from the system. She was always a victim of the system.” I scoffed in anger, “Just when she got out of the system, she was screwed over by it again when police never found who killed her girlfriend and who attacked her.” I scoffed. 

“One might say that her life was divided by that event. The events before the attack and the events after the attack.” She suggested, and I sighed, not knowing what else to say. 

“Maybe you should help her find the justice she deserves.” She suggested, and I rose a brow in confusion. “Instead of worrying about what happens after you find justice for Lucy, you should worry about the act of finding justice.” 

 

… 

Emma was right. 

Of course she was, she was an incredibly smart woman, and that was part of the reason I disliked her so much. 

Penelope deserved more than just the solving of Lucy’s case. She deserved to get off of what she did. She deserved justice. 

It all goes back to what MG said. 

A good officer can bring people to justice, but it takes a great cop to see that things aren’t in black and white. It takes a great cop to see that someone does bad things for good reasons. 

I gave Penelope her space all day yesterday, given the bombshell I dropped on her the night before, but now I needed to talk to her. I decided to call her, and when I didn’t get an answer, I was surprised, to say the least. Penelope always answered her phone. I dropped her a few worrisome texts and when ten minutes passed while I was waiting in my car, I drove to her apartment to go see if she was there. 

I went upstairs and knocked, my worry growing when there was no sound coming from the other side of the door. 

I hesitantly went home to talk to Lizzie, hoping she and Hope had spoken about it. Or maybe that Penelope came by while I was at my therapy appointment. 

“Hey Liz, have you seen Pen-” I cut myself off when I was met with an amusing sight, Lizzie lying on the ground in the middle of the front room, Hope hovering over her, knees on either side of Lizzie’s hips, hands propped against the floor to keep her in the air. 

“It is not what it looks like.” Lizzie swore, shoving Hope up by her chest so she could sit up. 

“Mhm,” I chuckled, closing the door behind me and dropping my keys into the bowl on the table beside the door before walking to the kitchen table. “I’m not judging.” I assured. 

“Anyway, what were you saying?” Lizzie exhaled as she stood to her feet, smoothing out the fabric of her sweater. 

“I’ve been trying to reach Penelope all day, and she’s not answering me, so I was gonna see if maybe she came by while I was gone, or if Hope had seen her.” I explained as I reached into my fridge for a water. 

“No.” Lizzie said simply, looking back over her shoulder at Hope. 

“I actually haven’t seen her since the other morning. I figured she was just staying away since the thing with you and I. I originally came over to ask you, but you weren’t here.” She hummed, and I harrumphed. 

“I’m worried about her.” I admitted, “I don’t want her to self-destruct after everything that happened the other night.” 

“What happened the other night?” Hope asked, crossing her arms over her chest, tilting her head to the side with interest. 

“I don’t think it’s my place to sa-” 

“Josie found an engagement ring under Lucy’s bed the other night and gave it to Penelope.” Lizzie interrupted, to which I glared at her, resulting in her shrugging. “She needed to know.” 

“Oh wow.” Hope blinked in shock for a moment before walking to the door of the apartment, grabbing her coat from the hook behind it and opening the door, “I’m gonna go look for her. Don’t worry, she’s probably just at the studio. I’ll call you tomorrow and tell you how she’s doing, because she’s probably gonna be drunk.” She assured to Lizzie before walking out. 

“I’m so worried, Liz.” I exhaled, running my fingers through my hair as I paced back and forth behind the table in the kitchen. 

“Don’t be,” Lizzie assured, “Hope will find her just fine, and tomorrow, you’ll be able to spend time with her.” She promised, walking behind the table to hug me tightly, rocking back and forth with my against her. 

My sister always knew how to make everything better. 

It’s how we got through so much growing up. 

We used to cuddle in my bed when she was having boyfriend trouble, and when she was outed by one especially awful boyfriend, and when I was bullied.

That one was interesting. I told her I was being bullied by her best friend, and she immediately hugged me. We laid down and she let me nuzzle her shoulder until I fell asleep. The next morning, she paraded straight up to the bully, Dana, and punched her in the face in front of everyone before taking my arm and walking away with grace as everyone gawked at us. 

Nobody messed with me since. 

Not until Rafael, anyway. 

… 

I did as Emma suggested and took a night to rest so I could be energized for work the next day when MG insisted we go to the old alley that Penelope and Lucy were attacked in. We drove over, making me painfully aware of how close it was to Vicki's club, Donovan’s while we parked. 

“You have to leave your gun and badge.” I demanded as I stripped myself of them, then my blazer and button up. 

“What?” MG scoffed, looking away as I reached into my tank top to pull my breasts from my bra, up to be exposed at the top of the black fabric. 

“I’ve met the owner of this place and she doesn’t know I’m a cop. If she thinks I’m a cop, we will literally be skinned by drug dealers.” I explained, and he seemed to be panicking. I rolled my eyes and pulled my hair out of my ponytail, giving it to him so he could put his hair up. 

“How the hell do you know the owner?” He asked in a harsh whisper while tying his thick, curly hair into my ponytail holder. 

“Penelope used to live in the upstairs apartment,” I admitted as I reached across MG’s lap to open the glove box, where a tube of red lipgloss was sitting. I lined my lips and pursed them together before putting it back and closing the compartment. “I had to meet her as Penelope’s girlfriend a couple weeks ago.” 

“So who am I to you then?” He asked frantically, and I shrugged. 

“I don’t think it’ll matter, MG.” I assured, “Nobody’s even outside, this is just a precaution.” I assured before opening the door and getting out, MG following close behind. I turned to look at the man, rolling my eyes when I noticed so many things wrong. “Remove the blazer!” I hissed, “And untuck your shirt, weirdo!” He rushed to do so as we walked past the front of the club, nobody in sight, considering the fact that it was only three in the afternoon on a thursday and most clubs in New York City didn't open until eight or nine at the earliest. 

“Okay,” MG sighed, his hands on his hips as he looked at the old alleyway from the entrance. “Let's go through this from the beginning.”

“Okay…” I trailed before walking all the way to the end of the alley, about three feet from the grid iron fence that blocked Lucy and Penelope from escaping their fates. 

“Are you sure they stopped there and not further from the fence?” MG called. 

“I'm sure it was here.” I'd seen that video a hundred times, it was burned into my brain by now. This was the exact place they stopped. 

“We should hurry,” MG suggested, looking up at the sky with squinted eyes. “It looks like it's gonna rain and my hair won't stay up like this if it gets wet.” 

I rolled my eyes and proceeded to walk to the middle of the two buildings, about a third of the way out of the alley. I closed my eyes and visualized myself in Lucy's shoes, having a knife pulled against my neck, begging Penelope to come close. 

“Josie?!” Called a vague familiar voice, and I opened my eyes to see the one and only Vicki, staring at me from the corner of her club. “What are you doing here?” 

“Hey, Vicki.” I smiled, walking up and thinking up a quick reason on as tp why I was here. “I saw a cat run over here and I wasn't sure if he was hurt or not.” I lied. 

“What brought you this way anyway?” She chuckled as I approached, hugging me, MG just standing by. I had to fight back any hesitance as I thought about why I would be out here. 

“I-I was just looking for Penelope.” I lied in reference to the thing at the very front of my thoughts all day/. “Something happened the other day and I haven't seen her since.” 

“Oh, well I didn't see her.” She shrugged, “can I ask what happened?” 

“Just another really sad detail about Lucy before she died.” I pouted, “She wouldn’t tell me, you know how secretive she can be.” 

“She always was very personal. I swear, I didn’t even know she was a foster kid until Lucy brought it up one day.” She chuckled sadly, something that confused me. I was counting on the fact that I was an exception to Penelope being personal, but I didn’t realize it was to that extent. I mean, she told me she was a foster kid on our second lone meeting. Maybe it’s just that Penelope knew she couldn’t trust someone who regularly gets crossfaded on vodka, cocaine and marijuana. 

“Do you have any idea where she’d be?” Asked MG from behind suddenly, and she rose a perfectly sculpted brow.

“And who’s this fine young man?” She smirked as she looked him up and down predatorily. 

“This is my coworker, MG.” I said vaguely, to which she rose a brow inquisitively. 

“Handsome” She commended simply of the man, who seemed flattered as he chuckled to fight away the blush. 

“Thank you, ma’am.” 

“Anyway, you could probably look at the old cemetery on Sunset. I can’t tell you how many times my guys have found her passed out or crying over Lucy’s grave.” She chuckled sadly again. 

It was strange seeing her sober. 

“Thank you, Vicki.” I exhaled, and she nodded solemnly. 

“Come over when you're in a better place, okay, love?” She asked with a kind smile before walking back into the door of the empty club.

“And you said it wouldn’t matter who I am to you.” MG scoffed, and I rolled my eyes. 

“Shut up, MG.” 

… 

I sent a text to Hope as soon as I heard from Vicki about where Penelope would be before dropping MG back at the office and heading there myself as fast as I could. 

I peeled up to the curb of the cemetery and ran through the gates, noting the rain falling on the back of my neck as I searched the park for Penelope. 

“She’s right there,” I heard Hope from behind me and looked at her finger pointing to the right. I spotted a short pair of black hair and immediately ran over as the rain began to pick up. 

“Penelope?” I muttered of the girl who was sitting in front of a grave, a bottle of vodka clutched in her fist as she stared at the stone. 

Lucille Yvette Gonzalez 2000-2022 

“Penelope, are you okay?” I mumbled, and she looked up at me with bloodshot eyes, brimmed with tears that were being washed away by the rain that began to pelt us. I took my jacket off and put it over her bare arms, kneeling down to look at her more closely. I took her face between my palms to look at her. “What happened to you?” I asked sadly, and she looked away from me, down at the bottle in her hand before opening her grip and letting it roll onto the ground. 

It was mostly full before she dropped it, and there was no other bottles around, which, hopefully, meant she was sober. 

“I didn’t have the energy to drink away my sorrows.” She said sadly. 

“Where have you been these last two days?” I asked, and she looked around for a moment, noticing Hope standing about ten feet away. 

“I gave the ring to her parents.” She sniffled, “Stayed up there for the day yesterday and the night before.” Her lip quivered for a moment before she looked down at her fingers, which played with a few blades of grass in front of her, the water from the rain dripping down the sides of her face and off of her hair. 

“We should get out of the rain.” I assured, taking her hand to pull her up, but she didn’t even try to move. 

“Did you know that I wanted kids?” She scoffed, “I didn’t even realize I wanted a kid until I went to a family reunion and saw Lucy running around with one of her cousins on her shoulders.” She chuckled, wiping the tears from her already soaked face. “I couldn’t wait to start a family with that girl, Josie.” She whimpered, and I took her shaky hand to assure her that I wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Every day I imagined waking up next to her and walking out to our baby’s room to wake him up and feed him together.” She chuckled sadly, shaking her head, “Seeing that ring just reminded me of just how real it could’ve been.” She sniffled and let out a loud laugh, “I actually had a chance at that family, Josie, but instead I had to watch her bleed out onto the concrete.” She reached her hands up to hold the sides of her head, tucking it between her suspended knees, closing a fist against her head before striking the side roughly, groaning as she gritting her teeth and clenched her jaw shut. I stopped her my taking her wrists and pulling them down to her sides, crouching over her knees to take her face in my hands again.

“Listen to me,” I whispered, and finally, evergreen eyes were staring at me, “you’re okay.” I assured, “We’re gonna find justice for Lucy, and she’ll finally be able to rest knowing there’s nothing she knew that nobody else did, okay?” I smiled sadly, using my thumb to wipe the streaming tears from her ducts. 

“What does it matter?” She whimpered, her voice cracking. “She’s dead. It’s been almost seven years, we’re not gonna win this, Jojo.” She complained pessimistically, making me shake my head. 

“Yes we will. I’ll make sure it happens.” I promised, and she chuckled sadly. 

“No. J-just, arrest me already.” She complained, and I looked up at Hope, estimating that she was too far away to hear what Penelope just said. “I’m fine with it now, there’s no point in being here, in doing this. Just let me rot for what I did.” She commanded, making my heart wrench in my chest. “I’m not drunk, Jojo, I’m not on anything, I just wanna be done with everything. You’ll be done with me, you can get on with your life and I’ll be where I belong; behind bars.”

Sure, it was an easy way out. 

Just pull out some cuffs now. 

But I couldn’t. It wasn’t an option for me. 

There was only one option. 

"Come here," I demanded softly, sitting beside her and pulling her small, fragile body into my lap as the rain poured down upon us, soaking me completely. "We're gonna find out who took your future from you. Together." 


End file.
